Janken PUNCH!
by RisanF
Summary: While traveling around the world, Chibi Goku runs into Arale again, accidentely breaking her glasses. To make up for this, Goku takes her along with him to find new ones. What they end up finding is a whole new adventure...and a whole load of trouble.
1. Prologue

  
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies, as well as all characters within. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.   
  
Legend:   
( ) Denotes thoughts.   
{ } Denotes sound effects.  
  
Prologue: O-kay! Let's get This Story Started!   
  
*****   
  
Somewhere in the world, a secret warehouse exists deep underground. Owned by a ruthless military organization, this depot harbors many a mysterious device, including the top-secret project known only as "LOGO."   
  
What is "LOGO?" A super-weapon of gargantuan, planet wrecking proportions? A new aircraft that can tour the world in seconds? No one knows, for no one has actually seen it. Even the top officers have no access to it, and of course none from the outside world know of it. It looked like the mystery will never be uncovered...   
  
Well, until now...   
  
*****   
  
"Yawn!" Biggs rolled back in his seat, his comic book covering his face. His uniform was rumpled from slouching, and his hat had fallen off onto the floor. A large strand of drool hung from his mouth, and his eyes were closed, completing the picture of the stereotypical lazy-ass guard.   
  
He thought that working for Red Ribbon would be interesting and action packed. But so far, he hadn't seen one whit of action. Man, this regiment was nothing like the comics made out evil armies to be. Oh if it could only be like that.   
  
{KRBUNK!!!} The door closed, and Biggs suddenly jerked out of his seat and into a semi-alert stance. If his supervisor caught him goofing off, it'd be the axe for him!   
  
But upon viewing his visitor, he soon relaxed back into his previous slump. It was just Wedge, his partner and close friend, 'close friend' meaning someone who'd shut up and not squeal. Biggs grinned. Wedgie was probably here to take over, letting him get back to his one true love: Shounen Jump.   
  
The guard got out of his seat. "It's all yours, man," he told his friend, bending down to scoop up his #133 issue. "Try to fall asleep on the job."   
  
"Uh...'kay," Wedge said, nodding gangly. He wobbled unsteadily to the seat, almost tripping over his own feet. (The poor fool's into the sake again,) Biggs thought, rolling his eyes. (To think he drank all of that, and didn't save any for me!)   
  
(Well, I should at least help the kid...) "Hey, you look a little ragged out," he said, smirking sympathetically. "You should really cut down, you know."   
  
"Cut down?" Wedge raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Why would I want to cut anything?" He scratched his head, awkward in confusion.   
  
Biggs reared back. "Damn, you really are smashed," he exclaimed, a weird grimace on his face. "Even your voice sounds weird." Walking up to him, he dragged his partner over to the chair. "Here, take a load off," he offered, thrusting Wedgie into the seat, who wobbled even more, as if sitting was some sort of foreign custom. "Have some R&R," Biggs said, tossing one of his old comic books onto his lap. He then raised his own comic to his nose and began to suck in the printed action.   
  
Wedge, however, didn't seem to know what to do with his comic. "What's this," he asked, raising the book to Biggs for analysis.   
  
The other smiled. "'Dragon Ball,' Book 14 of Part 3," he explained, pointing out at it. "This one's one of the better ones, the 'Dr. Slump' crossover."   
  
"Slump?" Wedge asked, examining the book curiously.  
  
"Yeah, I've never heard of it either," Biggs shrugged easily. "Still, it's some pretty wacky crap, so it's alright in my book."   
  
He seemed to understand this much, and resumed sifting through the pages, reading silently to himself. Biggs took a closer look at his friend. "You know, you should probably take off that overcoat," he suggested. "It's screwing your posture up."   
  
"Wha..." A large sweatdrop rolled on Wedge's temple. "N-no, I don't think I should." He stammered, waving his hands in distress. "It's...kinda cold in here, after all..."   
  
Biggs raised an eyebrow. "Hey...why are you so nervous...?" he inquired suspiciously, a scowl slowly forming on his. "Are you hiding sake in that cloak? You putz! I told you not to hold out on me!" Now angry, he stomped over to Wedge, whose eyes were going wide in panic. "C'mon, cough it up!" he demanded, making a lunge for the buttons. Amidst Wedge's protests, he opened up the flaps.   
  
But he was in for a bit of a surprise.   
  
Instead of the expected and desired alcohol, Biggs was instead staring into the lenses of thick eyeglasses, magnifying a set of huge, blue eyes. He lurched back in shock, trying to get a better look at this freakish sight, and found that the glasses were framing a face of a little girl, with purple hair and vaguely cherubic features.   
  
The eyes blinked at him, and all Biggs could do was blink back.   
  
And then the little-girl-face grinned. "N'cha!" it cheered happily, showing pearly white teeth.   
  
{GOM!}   
  
Suddenly, he felt a titanic force smash into "them," turning the things into a new dimension of pain. He felt the life drain completely out of his body, a soft warm feeling replacing it.   
  
Biggs smiled lazily. "Too many damn comic books," he giggled, before falling off his feat into the floor, knocking his mind out of consciousness.   
  
*****   
  
"Urk!" the small man said, grabbing his face and pinching it sharply. His fingers tugged at his cheek, stretching the skin almost clean off his skull. Then...the skin 'did' come clean off his skull, slapping off onto his hand.into a rubbery, crumpled mess. "'There," he said, throwing his mask off onto the over coat he and his friend had used. And then he sighed, putting his hand to his face and rubbing it of the icky feeling that came with wearing it.   
  
The man that had been talking with Biggs was now a young, thirteen-year old boy, with spiky hair and wide, innocent features. His feet were fit into blue Kung-fu shoes; his pudgy form was clothed in an orange martial gi. And right next to the emblem "Kame," a rope crossed over shoulder, holding a small red pole onto his back, which he gripped tensely at the ready. "'Guess this 'sneaking in' thing didn't work out too well," he commented, turning to his friend and making a disturbed sort of face.   
  
"So what now?" The other one in the room said, dusting her hands free of the privacy crushing work they had implemented. She was a small purple haired girl, also thirteen, dressed in gray overalls and a red shirt, with purple hair that came down to her waist. Her face was obscured by thick, nerdy glasses, and on top of her head sat a winged baseball cap that read: "ARALE." As well it should, for that was her name.   
  
"Well, since this plan was a bust..." the boy started, straightening his wristbands. "We're gonna have to do it the hard way."   
  
"Yup!" the girl said, and a bright smile suddenly burst onto her face. "The fun way!"   
  
He looked a little confused at this eagerness at first, but soon he smiled with understanding. "Right!" he said, nodding his head and clenching his fists.   
  
The boy and girl walked up to the steel door, their faces mirroring the other with crystal. "Okay!" they said, raising his leg and bending it at the joint. "Let's go!"   
  
Then, they kicked out.   
  
{KLONG!} the steel door went flying into the hallway, startling the Red Ribbon soldiers that occupied it. It struck the floor, toppling like a domino before skidding to a halt about twenty meters from its frame. The guards looked at the torn hinges. They looked at the two footprints embedded in the metal. And then they looked up at the doorframe, just in time to see their doom: two kids, running like mad, and ready to kick ass.   
  
"CCCHHHAAARRRGGGEEE!!!" Son Goku and Norimaki Arale ripped through the corridor, a large swarm of dust following them like car exhaust. Screaming like hell, they launched themselves straight through the RR guards before they even knew what was going on. It wasn't until they were halfway through before they finally got their act together and readied their machine guns.   
  
Too bad for them.   
  
"YO!!!" Goku slammed his fist into a RR's gut, doubling him over. While he clutched his stomach, the monkey-tailed boy took this moment to hop onto his head and {Pwik} kick off it into the air. Above the soldiers he spun, before coming down with a jump kick, and proceeding to take on the others. He crossed a soldier in the jaw, swept another off his feet, and {DWOK!} kicked a third into the group, toppling them like bowling pins.   
  
"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!" Not one to be left out of the action, Arale soon joined in the fray, taking on a second group that was approaching her. {SHWOP!} she jumped up into the air, taking with her the nearest guard that had dared to confront. With her hands grabbing his waist, the myopic jinzouningen took her screaming soldier and {SMASH!!!}cracked his skull into the floor.   
  
{BWAK!} Goku bashed the side of a soldier's face. {THWOP} Arale decked an RR with a hook. {WHAP!}{TWIP}{FWIK!}{DKONG!!!} and before a minute had passed, the hall was devoid of all conscious guards, letting the two superhumans free leave to continue unhindered, into the next room.   
  
Once through the door, Goku and Arale took a quick look at their surroundings. They were now in a large storehouse, packed with boxes of all shapes and sizes. Most of them contained weapons, ammunition, and equipment for the soldiers, although a few of them carried food and rations. (this Goku noticed right off)   
  
But despite his hunger, he pressed on, following Arale up the crates and onto the girders criss-crossing the establishment. They were on a mission, after all. This was (sadly) no time to eat.   
  
They continued running on the rafters, keeping perfect balance despite their incredible speed. Goku's arms pumped furiously at his sides, while Arale kept hers spread out like an airplane. In no time at all, they had crossed the expansive room, nearing the wall that separated this section from the next. And since this wall only came up to below the girders, they were easily able to bypass it into the closed off area.   
  
They ran a little bit more, up to the next intersection of girders. And then "Hup!" they hopped off and fell down to the floor, popping up in fighting stances in case of any threats. Finding none, they relaxed their stances, settling down and taking a look at their new surroundings. As well as they could, anyway.   
  
The new room was about twice as big as the one before it...and twice as dark. Only a few flickering lights shone down on the room, barely enough for Goku and Arale to see each other with. And since the lights were positioned above the center of the room, the sides and corners of the room were complete mystery, leaving the duo in a rough pseudo-spotlight of vision.   
  
"Man, this stinks," Goku groaned, trying to see through the darkness. "If we can't see, how're we supposed to find this 'LOGO' thing?"   
  
"Don't worry!" Arale piped, smiling cheerfully. "I'll just use my supervision!" She clenched her fists and bent her legs, gathering all of her energy. "Hmmmmm...!" she buzzed, focusing her eyes into intense, all seeing telescopes.   
  
"But Arale-chan, you don't have supervision," Goku pointed out. "Remember? You said you only had super-strength and stuff."   
  
The girl turned to look at him, her eyes bulging from all the staring. Then upon realizing the truth, she snapped her fingers in frustration. "Why couldn't the Doc give me any cool stuff?" she complained, a scowl on her face. "No supervision, no rockets in the stomach, no nuthin'!" She bent her knees and sat on the ground, settling into a low pout.   
  
"Aww, poor thing." A voice called from the darkness. "There's always next lifetime."   
  
Arale jerked up at this mysterious sound, growing more alert. "Was that you?" she asked, turning to Goku.   
  
"Wasn't me," he denied, his features slowly hardening up. "There's only one creep that has that voice. The guy who destroyed Kinto'un..." His finger snapped out like a whip towards the back of the room. "...Colonel Silver!"   
  
"Very nice," the alleged Silver mocked from the darkness. "I guess you're not as dumb as you look."   
  
"Where's 'LOGO!'" Goku demanded, his pointer still extended. "Tell us, before we beat you up!"   
  
"Yeah!" Arale joined in, clenching her fists. "What he said!"   
  
"Ho ho," the RR leader snickered. "You two are quite the little brats, aren't you. Don't worry, it's right in this room. But," His tone turned sinister. "You first must contend with me."   
  
"Heh, no prob!" the boy smirked, snapping into a fighting stance. Arale soon followed suit, and the two faced off against their invisible opponent.   
  
But instead of an attack, a swarm of brilliant light greeted them. Goku and Arale shielded their eyes from the unwelcome luminance, purple spots appearing before them. When they were at last convinced they could see, they opened up their eyes to view the now perfectly lit room...and to see the dark horror that awaited him.   
  
There was Silver, complete in all his shirtless glory, only this time he wasn't alone. For he was embedded to the knees in a ruthless machine that could only be described as...a penguin. Yes, it was a giant, mechanized penguin, standing well over three meters and dwarfing our heroes by a large margin. It gleamed with a metallic blue shine, and its two eyes glowed blood red, waiting for a chance to strike.   
  
In the face of such monstrous adversary, there was only one thing to say.   
  
"Hoyoyo!" Arale cheered, throwing her hands in the air. "That's so cool!"   
  
"Cool is right, my little friend," Silver laughed, gripping onto the two joysticks with anticipation. "For this is 'Penguin-Kun #1,' the latest in Red Ribbon technology! Equipped with freeze ray and missile cannons, it'll ice you in ten seconds flat!" He chuckled at his own pun.   
  
"Now..." the colonel said, grinning maliciously. "...FEEL MY POWER!!!" And he clicked onto the left joystick button.   
  
{WooWooWooWooWoo!} A vibrant blue-white beam poured out of the penguin's mouth, swirling with glowing ripples. It zoomed straight for Goku and Arale, who escaped the blast with only a second to spare. They landed back on the ground, their dukes up, but looked in shock at the patch of ice present where they once stood.   
  
"Whoa!" Goku exclaimed, his mouth wide open. "That's some weapon!" But he had only a second more to admire it, for Silver's second weapon was honing in on Goku's silhouette, and ready to fire. {FWOSH! FWOSH!}Two rockets launched themselves out at Goku, at a velocity that surprised even him. He retained his cool, though, and batted away the unwelcome projectiles, which went careening into the corners and exploding with a loud crash.   
  
Arale, meanwhile, had her own troubles to deal with. While the missile cannon was occupied by Goku, the freeze ray was all too available to concentrate on her. {WooWooWoo!} It hollered, firing a short shot that made Arale jump back. {WooWooWoo!} It yelled again, and she had to duck this time to avoid the bolt. {WooWoo!}{WooWoo!}{WooWooWooWooWoo!}   
  
"Yeek!" Arale yelped, as she just barely evaded an extended ray. She looked down at her feet, and suddenly discovered that she hadn't completely avoided the last shot. One of her shoes was coated in a thin layer of ice, and her little toe had caught a slight frostbite.   
  
"Hey!" she yelled out, glaring at the rampaging Penguin-Kun. "This guy's playing too rough!"   
  
"Yeah!" Goku said, who had just finished with his missiles. "So we're gonna hafta play rougher!" He threw her a wink from across the room, smiling boyishly.   
  
Arale's face was blank for a moment more, but soon she caught the meaning behind his words. "Gotcha!" she said, returning his wink with a smile.   
  
"Are you kids coming up with a plan?" Silver asked, then chuckled darkly. "Heh heh, plan all you like! No matter what you attempt, you'll never destroy Penguin-Kun!"   
  
Goku and Arale weren't listening, for they were already preparing their duel attack. Vibrant energies were starting to form: Goku's concentrating mainly in his hands, while Arale's rippled all over her body. An electric whine was emitting from their respective locations, filling the chamber with an echoing roar. They continued this for a moment more.   
  
Then Goku decided that it was time. With a cold blue fire forming in his hands, he braced himself...   
  
"Ka...me...ha...me...HAAA!!!"   
  
And with the energies collected, he thrust his cupped palms forward, sending a blazing wave of plasma straight for Colonel Silver's machine.   
  
While this was happening, Arale too was reading her attack. A low growl emitted from her throat as she gathered all her powers. Once these powers were concentrated, she took a large breath...   
  
"N'CHAAA!!!"   
  
...then she hollered out her greeting, firing out a bolt of saffron on a course for her adversary.   
  
The two beams streaked forward...   
  
{ZZMMMMM!!!} and then they intersected...right through Penguin-Kun. The crossing attacks tore through the metal beast, demolishing plating and circuitry, and utterly crushing all of Silver's hopes.   
  
He had one moment to utter an "Eep...!"   
  
{BABOMB!!!} then the entire robot burst into conflagration, a roaring fire blazing from its stomach. It started to wobble unsteadily, creaking and clanking with loose mechanics. Soon, it toppled over, hitting the ground with a hard {BONG!!!}   
  
"Yippie!" Goku/Arale cheered, dancing around randomly. "We killed the penguin! We killed the penguin! We..."   
  
But the show wasn't over yet. The victors stopped their celebration at a loud sound, and turned to the source. With a measure eof surprise, they found that Penguin-Kun had fallen onto a power strip, jamming in one of the switches. This prompted a large burst of light from behind the wreckage, illuminating a large structure at the end of the room.   
  
Goku and Arale stared at it, trying to make out the strange object.   
  
And once they did, they let loose with gigantic smiles.   
  
"That's it!" Goku exclaimed, his eyes wide with realization. "That's 'LOGO!'"   
  
"We did it!" Arale cheered, looking at him with a big grin.   
  
Goku and Arale walked up to the other to view the lights together. Side by side, they put their arms around each other in a buddy fashion, possibly without knowing they had done so; they were too excited for that.   
  
Before them, shining like the Holy Grail, was a set of two words, crafted to stand out from the world. The first word shone with a greenish light and featured a blue after-trail, giving it the illusion of speed. To its right, the second word burst out from below it, glowing red and adorned with a yellow POW effect, like that often used in comic books.   
  
Alone, these words were quite meaningless and almost nonsensical. But together, with their powers joined, they formed the most powerful phrase ever imagined. The title of this fanfic:   
  
  
  
Jan-ken-PUNCH!   
  
By Reid M. Haynes   
  
  
  
Author's Notes: Well, I've finally started my second work. No, this prologue has no real effect on the actual story, but it does hint at the style I'll be using from now on. To explain a couple of things, this fic takes place right after the Red Ribbon Saga, during the time Goku's traveling around the world. From there, the story tapers off into an AU.   
  
Oh yeah, and for those of you who are thinking: "Who the hell is Arale?" well, Arale is an android girl that stars in Akira Toriyama's previous work, Dr. Slump. She also makes a brief cameo in Dragon Ball, where she had a couple of small adventures with Goku before he runs off again. Naturally, I wasn't satisfied with just this, so she's getting a staring role in this story.   
  
Get used to her. She's staying! ^_^   
  
BONUS!: Wanna see the nifty logo that Goku and Arale worked so hard to bring you? Just go to www.geocities.com/risanf/logo.jpg to view it.   
  
Additional Disclaimer(s): The names "Biggs" and "Wedge" are a trademark used by the "Final Fantasy" series. (stolen from "Star Wars" before that) "Penguin-Kun" is the name of some old Fanicom game, although, to be truthful, the robot in my story really has nothing to do with it. (I just liked the name "Penguin-Kun"...)   
  
Until next time, Ja ne! ^_^   



	2. Tale 1

  
Jan-ken PUNCH!   
  
By Reid M. Haynes   
  
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies, as well as all characters within. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.   
  
Legend:   
( ) Denotes thoughts.   
{ } Denotes sound effects.  
  
*****   
  
Through the dense cover of cumulus, Kami above spied on the forested countryside. It was a lively countryside, stretching off in emerald snakes that etched their way overyonder horizon. The green wave swirled through the blue rivers and brown earth in an unpredictable journey, moving across the world as patternless tapestry, halting only for the mountains. And even then, they seemed to try their best to crawl up those hills, as if desperately wanting to cease their earthbound struggles and sour to the azure skies above.   
  
It was a little after morning, and the sun was left free to shine on the overworld forests. Light played off the canopies, twinkling in spring dewdrops and coloring otherwise drab tree trunks. It rained into the living sea and penetrated through the foliage, the bolder ones trying for the lower branches and perhaps the grass blades farther down. But all of the light was here for one purpose: to wake the forest up from its late slumber and start the trend of life anew.   
  
One of the rays was lucky enough to pour into a knothole, delivering its wake up call to the small resident who occupied it. A couple of sleepy eyes blinked through the unwelcome haze and then, very lethargically, a small owl bumbled out of the dwelling. It twitched awkwardly, trying to adjust to the new dawn. Almost as if it was contemplating whether it should even bother waking up.   
  
And when a large figure shot down towards the branch he sat on, the owl made up its mind. Real fast.   
  
"Ha!" Goku landed on the limb, bending it down with his slight weight. Then he shot off it through the forest, moving to another branch, then another, moving among the trees as if born doing it.   
  
The owl stared at the retreating figure, cooped up safely in its cubbyhole. After a moment's thought, he determined it best to lie safe in slumber, fainting dead away at the weird figure.   
  
Sailing through midair, Goku used his tail to grasp a passing branch, stopping his advance. But instead of halting altogether, he used his momentum to turn himself around and around the limb, gathering even more speed. He spun. He spun. And finally he {FWOOM!} let himself shoot off through the woods and eventually to the ground, where he smoothly made transition from flying to running, not missing a single beat.   
  
"Hmm," Goku pondered, scanning the path he traveled. "If I keep on the path I'm runnin' now, I should get out of these woods around mid afternoon. But," He stole a glance at the lower branches. "If I take the branch route again, I can bust outta here at about lunchtime. And I am kinda hungry." His stomach growled to emphasize this point.   
  
After a few more steps, Goku made up his mind. "Okay, the branch route it is!" he cheered, gathering himself up for another jump. "Here we go!" He leapt up into the air.   
  
  
  
Tale 1: Here She Comes, Here Comes Arale-chan!   
  
*****   
  
"Woo hoo!" Goku hooted, plopping down on the soft grass. "Food time!" With unhurried ease, he reached out to his knapsack and whipped out a six foot fish, crocodile eyeballs, goat's milk, some mushrooms, a steer, and various other commodities that looked like they should be hanging on a hunter's mantle, instead of a boy's stomach.   
  
Grinning eagerly, Goku set each of the articles on the various pedestals around. The clearing had once been more forest, so there were plenty of old stumps to serve as tables. Good thing too: he had forgotten to take his picnic blanket.   
  
Finally done setting up, he pulled up a small rock and sat down, adjusting his tail so it wouldn't get squashed. That done, he scooped up the napkin aside him and wrapped it around his neck to protect his uniform from the crumbs. Then, he took a look at his set up in front of him. And sighed.   
  
All this good food. Waiting for him.   
  
Goku smiled.   
  
"Let's eat!" he called, and prepared to dive in.   
  
*****   
  
"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"   
  
*****   
  
{CHOMP!} {CHOMP!} {CHOMP!} Goku stuffed two squirrels in his mouth, seasoning it with a caterpillar. He then slurped a squid up, gulped down his goats milk, and added a few mushrooms for good measure. Finally, with the addition of a three pound beef flank, his mouth was finally full, preventing him from storing any more. But this mattering little, as he simply took the entire load down his throat at once, with only a little goat's milk for aid. Then he started up again.   
  
"I'll take some of this, and some of this, and some of this…"   
  
*****   
  
"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"   
  
*****   
  
{CHOMP!} {CHOMP! }{CHOMP!} Goku's chopsticks moved in red blurs, plunking up the food and delivering it to him quicker than the beat of humming bird flaps. A grape, an apple, a slice of duck, everything that came in contact with the sticks vanished, so suddenly that it left question to whether the food didn't just disappear. It was the Zan-zo-ken of eating…   
  
"Mmm, good stuff!"   
  
*****   
  
"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"   
  
*****   
  
With a large gulp, Goku swallowed his mouthful, leaning back and sighing in content. "Ah, that was good!" He put his arms behind his head, his eyes roaming over the remains of his lunch. All around him were gnarled remnants of today's feast, cluttering up the area around his feet. Large piles of bones and apple cores dwarfed his form, like a skeleton graveyard, only without the hint of terror. (Just as massive though, and intimidating in its own right.)   
  
"Well, that should do for an appetizer," he affirmed, throwing aside a cherry pit. "Time for the main course!" {FWOP!} Goku suddenly whipped out a huge ox, outweighing him by one ton, from some wormhole, which he held by its foot like a drumstick.   
  
"Heh heh!" Goku admired his prize, holding it before his eyes. "Bottoms up!" he said, and drove the meat to his lips.   
  
"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"   
  
"Huh?" Goku's head suddenly jerked up, as he became aware of a strange noise. He glanced about him, looking beyond the tree trunks for any peculiarities, but nothing seemed to jump out at him.   
  
He craned his ears to pick out any odd sound, but the forest was silent. The noise he had heard did not repeat itself, and everything was as it had been.   
  
After a last minute check, Goku shrugged. "Oh well…" he commented to himself, and brought the ox back to his mouth, restoring the hunger in his memory.   
  
"KiiiiiiIIIIII…!" {BAM!}   
  
"WAA!" Goku flew backwards ten feet against the impact, his face contorted in pain. His head hit hard against the ground, sending him to a stumbling roll before finally skidding to a rough halt, his face buried in the dirt.   
  
Goku pushed himself up with his hands, straining with the effort. Man, that was a hard hit! Once on his knees, he brushed some debris from his hair, blinking out the dirt in his eyes. After, he climbed to his feet, brushing off his body and gi. And taking a careful look forward, to find out what big hulk he ran into.   
  
He was a bit disappointed in that respect.   
  
In front of him crouched a small, purple haired girl, with a pert nose, an honest mouth, and large, blue eyes that were now searching the ground for something. Her pudgy hands slid around, trying to find whatever she had dropped, kicking up dirt all over her overalls. She seemed very focused and, at the same time, somewhat panicked as well.   
  
(This is what ran into me?) Goku scratched his head in confusion. (Nah, gotta be somethin' else...) It seemed implausible that such a small thing could have so much power. (Of course, his own experiences proved that size didn't matter, but still…)   
  
"Ooch!" Goku turned his glance at the girl's cry, finding she had caught a splinter of glass in her finger. She looked at her hand, startled, then squinted at the ground in shock. Among the grass were the remains of large, horn-rimmed glasses, with bent frames, gnarled hooks, and lens strewn all over.   
  
"They're…they're broke!" she said, disbelieving. "They're all ruined!" She shook her head at the abominable display, not knowing what to say.   
  
Goku stared at her with a pensive expression on his face. (Gee, she looks kinda upset.) he thought to himself. (Maybe I should help her…)   
  
"Uh…" Goku started, raising his finger slightly. "D'ya need some help?"   
  
The girl turned around  
  
She looked at him.   
  
With an angry scowl.   
  
"You…!" she hissed out, staring him down with an icy glare. "You must be the monster that broke my stuff! You make me mad!"   
  
"Huh? But I'm no monster!" he protested, with wide eyes. "I'm Son Goku!"   
  
"Don't lie, monster!" the girl snapped, pointing out with a wavering finger. "I can tell by th' horns comin' from your head! 'Sides," She made an angry grimace. "You're too ugly to be a 'Son Goku!'"   
  
"Horns?" Goku raised his eyebrows, subconsciously rubbing the spikes of his hair.   
  
But the girl was no longer listening, as she was now forming some sort of bizarre fighting stance, glaring at him intensely. "Now…" She bent her knees and raised her arms. "…I'm gonna get ya!"   
  
And {TWOOM!} she bolted forward, running a 70kph course straight for Goku. Her head was lowered like a battering ram, preparing for a crash course head-butt, and her arms were poised to her sides to whack peripherally. "Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"   
  
"Whoa!" Goku yelped, and tumbled away from the incoming danger. Just in time, too, for {CRONK!} the girl's crown slammed directly into the tree behind him, sending a spray of splinters outwards.   
  
For a split second, Goku was concerned that the impact had harmed her head. This, however, was quickly discounted by the sickening crack of wood as the entire tree divided in two, right down the middle.   
  
Goku stared at the tree, a dumbfounded expression on his face. "Cheez…"   
But he had no further time for contemplation, for the girl was starting her attack again. He readied himself…   
  
"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"   
  
{SHOMP!} then he leapt straight over the girl's head, missing her assault by inches. He rolled through the sky, head over heels, carrying him over several meters from the now-destroyed tree he stood before. Landing smoothly on his feet, Goku regained his composure, turning back to his opponent. And crouched into a fighting stance.   
  
What was this girl's problem? Goku simmered, giving her a cold glare. All he wanted was a nice snack, then he's assaulted by someone who ran into HIM. Unfair!   
  
"Alright!" he snarled, clenching his fists. "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!"   
  
The girl responded to this by setting up her charging stance, and rushing out again. But this time, Goku was ready, and met her dash with his own. His legs beat like pistons, moving him closer to his enemy. He bent his arm back, and clenched his fist, preparing a hard punch. His eyes squinted.   
  
"HAIII!!!!" Then he let the attack go.   
  
Only no one was there.   
  
Goku stumbled forward with the momentum, nearly tripping over his own feet. In quick recovery, he ground his heels in the ground, slowing himself down. Once he regained balance, he looked around him for his opponent, only to see a sight that made him adopt his confused expression again.   
  
During the previous rush, the girl had somehow managed to get herself off track. Cutting off the beeline for Goku, she had curved over to about four feet to the left…right into another tree.   
  
"Uhhh…" The girl moaned hazily. Googly eyed, she stumbled backwards in a slight daze, wobbling left and right. She put her hands on her head and conked it a couple of times to regain her senses.   
  
When she took a look at the broken tree, she did a double take. "Whoa…whoops!" she chuckled half-wittingly, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry about that!" She turned to Goku. "Don't worry, I'll get it right this time!" the girl assured him cheerfully.   
  
"….." Goku cocked an eyebrow.   
  
"YYYOOOOO!!!" The girl made another rush at the monkey boy, with the same manic fervor as before. She zoomed closer and closer and, finally, her head hit…   
  
{KLONG!}   
  
…right into another tree.   
  
"W-w-whaa!" she gurgled, hurling around in a lucidity-lacking lulu. Spinning around crazily, the girl bumbled all over the clearing, incoherent of all around her. She danced on tree stumps, swirled on branches and finally "Whoop!" tripped on a branch, sending her face first towards the ground, right at Goku's feet.   
  
Gpku stared at the girl with clear eyes, and the girl stared back, with fuzzy eyes.   
  
"Are you alright?" Goku asked, offering her his hand.   
  
The girl examined the hand for a moment. Then, she grabbed onto it, and Goku lifted her to her feet.   
  
"Thanks-cha," she said, letting go of his hand. "You're pretty nice for an evil monster."   
  
"No biggie," Goku shrugged, accepting the backhanded compliment with his usual nonchalance. "So what was with all the crashing you were doing?" he then asked her. "Couldn'cha see me?"   
  
"Not really," the girl admitted, then pointed out the broken glasses. "Y'see, I can't really see much of anything without my glasses." she explained to the boy. "It's sorta my weakness."   
  
"Wow," Goku said, gaping at the shards. "I never thought those thingies could be so important. No wonder you were mad."   
  
"Yup," she agreed. Then the girl stood up, and adopted a powerful air. "But I can still bust up the bad guys with the best of em'!" she cheered, throwing her fists in the air.   
  
"?????" Goku 'said.'   
  
"So how 'bout it?" the girl asked, looking back at Goku. "Can ya gimmie one more chance at a good hit? Please?"   
  
"I d'know," Goku pondered skeptically. "You said ya can't see too well, and I don't like fighting with someone at a disadvantage."   
  
"Aw, c'mon!" she whined, "Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with poo on top? C'mon, just one more chance! C'mon!"   
  
"I still don't know…" Goku said, rubbing his chin with his hand.   
  
The girl took a few steps back, and turned back to face him. "Look, I can prove I'm a good fight!" she insisted. "You ready! Here I come!"   
  
And {ZOOOM!} she dashed off towards Goku.   
  
""Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"   
  
And {ZOOOM!} she dashed off away from Goku…and out of the clearing.   
  
Goku looked at the girl watching her go. Then he put his hands on his hips, and cocked his head slightly. "That was weird."   
  
*****   
  
The girl had run about one mile when she discovered, much to her surprise, that she had missed her target. Once she knew, she dug her heels into the ground, bringing up a large dust cloud billowing out in front. The dirt created a haze through which none could see, masking the figures within. And when it was over, the girl had completely stopped, looking left and right for the evil, glasses breaking monster dude.   
  
"Now where did he go?" she said to herself, turning round and round for her opponent. "I thought he was right here!" She took a careful look at the forest, trying her best to seek out the figure. But without her glasses, she couldn't make out the bushes from the trees, much less anything else.   
  
"He must've wandered off," she eventually decided, guessing that none of the green 'n' brown stuff was that guy. "I'd better look for him." Turning back around, the girl wandered unsteadily in the direction from which she came. The general direction, anyway.   
  
On her path, the girl kept wobbling from side to side, alternating speeding up and down with her stumbles. Keeping her hands in front, she navigated the woods as best she could, trying to keep from running into anymore trees. She swerved around the dark blotches that blocked her way, and strafed the pointy looking things to her side.   
  
But she couldn't escape the big, mean looking blotch that moved in front of her.   
  
"Oop!" she squeaked, stepping a few steps back from the new obstacle. It was in the rough shape of a man, a rather brawny man, wearing a white muscle shirt and dark trousers. (she guessed) His eyes seemed kind of seedy, and his nose she couldn't make out.   
  
And on his mouth was a sinister, craggy smile. This she could tell for certain.   
  
"Well, well," it said, folding its arms. "What do we have here?"   
  
"Uh…I d'n know," she answered honestly. But the blotch only snickered. Confused, the girl tried to step around, but the blotch simply slid back into her way, bumping her once again.   
  
"Hey, what're you doin'?" she demanded, pointing out her finger.   
  
"What do you think YOU'RE doing?" a second voice said, and another figure melted from the hazy woods. "I'll tell you what you're doing. You're trespassing!"   
  
"Yeah," A third figure moved from behind him. "This is RR territory! So unless you've got one of these, you ain't one of us!"   
  
The man presented his arm, showing off a red blur to the near-sighted girl. Her eyes widened at the sight. "Hoyo!" she cried in understanding. "That's cool! Give me one!"   
  
"Huh?" The man said, stepping back in confusion.   
  
"Yeah!" the girl cheered, pumping her arms. "I mean, if I have one of those red thingys, I can be in the club, right? So give me a red thingy!" She started jumping up and down. "Give me one! Give me one! C'mon, I wanna play, too!"   
  
"Hmm…!" The first man narrowed his eyes, and started to put a hand behind his back. "So you want a red thing?" he asked her slightly, gripping an object behind his back.   
  
"Uh huh!" she bubbled, shaking her fists eagerly.   
  
"You really want it?" He slowly raised his arm up.   
  
"Yup!" the girl affirmed.   
  
The arm was now cocked in position, his hand holding a blunt object in its grasp. "Okay, here it comes." he said, and swung the weapon straight at her unwitting brain.   
  
{SHLOCK!)   
  
Suddenly, the weapon stopped three inches before it should have made contact. From the sound of the impact, it wasn't a skull, and from the feel of the impact, it wasn't very hurt.   
  
The man looked back down at his weapon. And then he gasped.   
  
"Ya shouldn't bully on people that can't see, y'know!" Goku said, raising his free hand.   
  
Cue typical "Makafushigi Adventure" battle instrumentals here.   
  
{DMMM!} Goku slammed his fist into the man's stomach, bowling him over like a shoreside salmon. Moving quickly, he yanked the implement from the fallen man to whip it around and {KONG!} toss it into one of the others.   
  
"You little shrimp," the first guard said, bringing up a battle stance. Goku quickly followed suit, facing the man just before he threw the punch.   
  
"Hyaa!" "Paper!" {FUMP!}   
  
Once his punch was complete, the man looked at his hand, and was horrified. The fist had ran straight into Goku's outstretched palm, not doing anything whatsoever. His eyes widened, just in time to meet the next attack: "Scissors!"   
  
{PLIK!} Goku's two fingers jabbed out in an typical 'Three Stooges' style eyepoke, sending the man back. "Agh!" he screamed, grabbing his eyes in agony, and leaving his middle open for the final blow.   
  
"ROCK!"   
  
{BAM!} The man went flying away and cracked his back against a tree. "Uhh…" he mumble, a slip of drool rolling down his mouth. Soon, he was unconscious.   
  
"Well, that's that!" Goku said cheerfully, throwing out the 'peace' sign. He dusted off his hands with satisfaction. Only to have them seized by an avid fan.   
  
"Hoyo!" the girl squealed, shaking his hands up and down. "That was so cool! Do it again! Do it again!" She hopped up and down, dragging up his hands with her.   
  
"Heh heh!" Goku chuckled, letting her bounce with no complaint.   
  
*****   
  
"Wow, you're really strong!" the girl said, while waving her hands in front of her face for guidance.   
  
"Yup!" Goku agreed lighthearted. "You ain't bad yourself, though!"   
  
"Heh heh!" she chuckled, giving him an open smile.   
  
The two were now walking back to the campsite. Goku, being raised in the wood, navigated through the trees with relative ease, whereas the girl, being raised with bad eyesight, could only crash into more things. The monkey boy had to constantly double back to fetch her, usually splattered again a tree. But it was no real trouble for him. After all, he was in no hurry, and they were both having a good time.   
  
They had finally reached the campsite, where the girl had said she lost something. Goku scanned the campsite for whatever looked out of place. But he couldn't quite pick it up. There was his campfire, the ox he had dropped earlier, those applecores, and "There is it!" the girl suddenly cheered, running out to the mystery object, leaving him to follow her with his eyes.   
  
Right next to the coconuts was a yellow baseball cap, a rather strange one at that. It was modified quite a bit from many of the type, featuring an enlarged logo printed on the front and, more eye-catching, little white wings shooting out at the sides. Quite a novelty, although Goku had probably seen stranger.   
  
The girl bent down, and plucked up the cap by its blue bill. Sweeping it upwards, she moved it above and placed it gently on her head, pulling some purple hair out in the process. "There we go!" she said, straightening the hat slightly.   
  
Goku's eyes shone with recognition. "Hey, I know you!" he cried out, pointing out. "You're the girl from that Penguin Village place! You're…Arale!"   
  
"Hoyo?" Arale took her hands on her hat. "Hey, how'd you know my name?" she asked him, giving his a curious glance.   
  
"We met a couple of months ago, when I was chasin' that Blue dude!" he explained. "Remember?"   
  
"Oh yeah!" Arale's eyes widened, and her mouth turned up in a bright smile. "Then you must be that cloud boy with the funny watch! Wow, that sure is somethin'!"   
  
"Yup!" Goku smiled. Then, he did something strange. He bent down, and thrust up his fists. "So you wanna finish our fight?" he asked, grinning enthusiastically.   
  
"Hmm? Oh no no no no no!" she said, waving her her hands in front of her. "Since you're not a bad guy, I don't got no more reason to beat'cha up anymore! Plus, I got some place ta' go!"   
  
"Huh," Goku said, scratching his head. "You're leaving already?"   
  
"Yup," she said, turning away from and looking beyond the clearing. "But don't worry!" she assured, giving him a grin over-the-shoulder. "I'll come back later, and I'll give you a real good fight! Count on it!" She winked.   
  
Goku looked at her for a moment longer, then gave her the thumbs-up. "Gotcha!" he said, grinning.   
  
Arale nodded, then turned back to the distant horizon. "Ready…." She whispered, bending her knees once again. "…GO!" and then she dashed off. "Byeee-chaaa!" she called out behind her as she headed out to the worlds beyond…   
  
{WHUMP!}   
  
…and into a tree.   
  
"Oops!" she burbled, after another round of tottering and swaying. "I guess I kinda forgot about that part!" She started chuckling hyperly, putting her hand behind her head in embarrassment.   
  
Goku tuned out her babbling, opting instead for some quiet pondering. (I don't think that girl can get where she's going on her own.) he thought, rubbing his chin. (I'd give her a ride Kinto'un, but if I do that, I'll mess up the trainin' that the old timer set me up on. Hmm…)   
  
"I got it!" Goku exclaimed. "I'll give you a lift myself!"   
  
"Hoyo?" Arale gave him a strange look, getting up and taking a few steps towards him. "Whatcha mean?"   
  
"Well, since ya can't see, I'll help ya get around, at least until you can get some new glass things!" Goku turned his back, thumbing towards it. "Look, just jump on, and we'll get goin'!"   
  
"Goody!" Arale yelled, jumping straightforward. "Piggyback ride!"   
  
{BAM}   
  
And Goku was knocked down on his face, a bewildered girl on his back.   
  
"Hey, why d'ya go 'boom'?" she asked him, staring down at him curiously.   
  
"Whoa…" Goku mumbled, a weird smile on his face. "She sure is strong."   
  
Then he fell unconscious.   
  
*****   
  
Thus Goku and Arale, tiny kids with titanic kicks, joined their two worlds once again. But what will befall them in their misadventures this time? Will Arale get new glasses? Can Goku keep her from destroying everything? And what about Red Ribbon? Find out next time...   
  
*****   
  
Arale: "N'cha! In the next chapter, me 'n' Goku-kun get ta know each other a wee bit better! And I gotta couple neat-o things to show 'im!"   
  
Goku: "Yup! And I d'n't know about you, but I'm startin' to guess this ain't no ordinary girl! And what's with the 'poo-pokin' thing, anyway?"   
  
Goku/Arale: (with arms around each other) "All this and more, in the next exciting chapter of 'Jan-ken PUNCH!'"  
  
RisanF: "Until next time, ja ne! ^_^"   



	3. Tale 2, Part 1

  
Jan-ken PUNCH!   
  
By Reid M. Haynes   
  
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies, as well as all characters within. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.   
  
Legend:   
( ) Denotes thoughts.   
{ } Denotes sound effects.  
  
*****   
  
Arale-ism of the Day: "Hoyo"   
  
Definition: (from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary)   
  
Main Entry: Hoyo   
Pronunciation: 'hOyO   
Function: interjection   
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English "hoyozo:" akin to Old High German "hoyozo ho"   
Date:1980   
1 : a nonsensical exclamation, often used as an expression of extreme emotion or to indicate confusion (Ex1: "'Hoyo!' Arale yelled with upmost glee." Ex2: "'Hoyo!' Arale hollered at the sight of Goku's bloody corpse." Ex3: "'Hoyo?' Arale queried to the professor, aghast at his explanation of universal theory.)   
  
Publisher's Note: If you attempt to actually look up 'Hoyo' in a modern dictionary, you are an idiot.   
  
Tale 2: Red Ribbon's Red Button, Part 1   
  
*****   
  
Forest life busies itself with many concerns. Animals attend to their daily concerns. Wind runs through the leaves. A single chestnut falls down on the forest path. It makes a sound. Just one small sound. Forest life busies itself with many concerns.   
  
It was a beautiful summer day in the wilderness. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and even the temperature was nice: warm, but not humid. A perfect day for traveling, especially it you carried a load.   
  
"So, where we goin'?" Arale asked from her place on Goku's back. "Are we headed to the glasses place?"   
  
"Dunno, exactly," the other responded, adjusting his grip on the girl's shins. "But I think there's a city somewhere ahead. They've got a buncha weird stuff there, so I'm sure we c'n find your eye cups."   
  
"D'ya know how far it is?" she questioned, looking off towards the road curiously.   
  
Goku raised his eyebrow in concentration. "Well, I'm not sure, but I think…" He ran a few calculations in his head. "…about a google plex kilometers."   
  
(Author's note: A 'google' is a number with over one hundred digits in it. Like '1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Why Goku knows this, or can even count that high, I have no idea.)   
  
"Oh, okie dokie," Arale nodded simply, looking away. Letting herself get distracted, she took a look around at the moving surroundings; something she grew quickly tired of, being that she couldn't see three feet in front of her.   
  
The duo was proceeding down the dusty path. Goku moved at a steady pace through the forest, keeping his eyes open for any enemies or troubles, while Arale clung to the boy's shoulders, trying to glance about beyond his gargantuan locks. The going was slower than either of them would've wanted but, due to Arale's co-dependency and added weight, Goku had to decrease his tempo to conserve energy.   
  
"Hey, by th' way," she piped up, grabbing Goku's hair eagerly. "Can ya tell me about that cool game you were playing? You know, with those red dudes?"   
  
"Game?" he asked, cringing a bit with the hard grip. "Whatcha mean?"   
  
"Yeah!" Arale nodded. "It sounded kinda like 'Jan-ken' but there were a buncha POWS and WHACKS and people went flyin' back."   
  
"Oh, you mean my 'Jan-ken Punch!'" Goku looked up at her, giving a wide grin. "That ain't no game; that's a secret move my grandpa taught me! It's really neat!"   
  
"Wow, it does sound neat!" the girl said, and bent over Goku's forehead. "Can ya teach me? Huh, can ya? Can ya?"   
  
"Well, ya don't seem t' see well enough for trainin' yet…" Goku told her honestly, trailing off nervously. Girls tended to tell him bad things when he was honest with them. At least the girls he knew.   
  
Arale, though, took this well enough. She just said "Oh," and lapsed back into silence. She did seem a little disappointed, though, making him feel a bit bad. So he amended it: "But when we get those glasses of yours," he began, and the girl's head jerked back up. "I'll be glad to teach ya how to beat the bad guys!"   
  
"Yay!" she cheered, stretching his hair even hardener. "Thanks-cha!"   
  
"Don't mention it," Goku said, smiling through the intense pain. "Hey, can ya tell me somethin', too?"   
  
"Hoyo?" Arale blinked a few times.   
  
Goku looked back at her. "Can ya tell me what th' heck 'hoyo' means?" he queried, eyes wide with curiousity.   
  
"'Hoyo?'" she affirmed, going into a contemplative mode. (referring to the word itself, not using it in the typical sence) "Hmm…I've never thodabout that before….I guess I don't really know!" The girl looked down at his head. "D'ya think that's bad?" she asked him.   
  
"Nah," Goku shook his head. "I mean, if ya like usin' that word, I don't see what th' big deal is. Besides, it does sound kinda cool."   
  
The girl smiled, and took a large breath. "Hoyo!" she sang to the sky.   
  
Goku chuckled lightly. "Hoyo!" he cried to the trees.   
  
Both of them looked to the other. "Hoyooo!" they both sang, creating a vibrant sound that echoed throughout the roaming countryside.   
  
And then a strange small alerted Arale's senses.   
  
"Hoyo?" she said. (using it as normally intended)   
  
Goku noticed the question in her voice, and promptly skid to a stop. "What's up?" he asked curiously, adjusting her weight in his arms.   
  
For a moment Arale said nothing, and just continued to stare off in the direction where she had sniffed this mysterious oder. Then she pointed out. "Go that way," she told him bluntly.   
  
Goku was a bit surprised by this direct order, but noticed no malice behind it. (unlike some 'other' girls he had dealt with) "Okay," he complied easily, trekking off in the direction Arale indicated. It was a bit off path from the current road he was taking, but he was in no real hurry, and could afford to take a small detour. (Besides, she seemed pretty interested in it) he thought to himself. (Which kinda interests me, too.)   
  
Through the rough flora, Goku navigated the untamed forests as best he could. It was tougher than normal, having to compensate for the girl's extra bulk, and more than once his foot caught on a high root. Still it was manageable, and Arale made the job easier for him by not annoying him with babbling protests, once again, unlike some 'other' girls he had dealt with. (No insults, no 'don't touch me there.) Goku mussed, ducking over a high branch. (Man, this girl is weird...)   
  
As for Arale, she concentrated mainly on brushing the larger limbs away from her. Not that they would've really hurt her, but the flower petals would scatter in her face when the branches snapped on her skull. They interrupted her sense of smell, and then she would lose that mysterious aroma that she had experienced. (I know I've smelt that before.)   
  
Under the canopies Goku walked, stepping gingerly over the toadstools and bushes that littered the forest. Stray barbs clung to both him and Arale's clothing, but too caught in their own thoughts were they to pay attention. Also because they didn't hurt.   
  
Also because they were almost there.   
  
"Watch your head," Goku stepped under the last branch and exited out into the wild prairie. He took a small look around, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. "So, what now...whoa..." And then Goku cut off his own sentence, upon seeing something that definitely 'wasn't' ordinary.   
  
Before Goku and Arale was a grand castle, standing high above the fields. Born of standard European design, it boasted thick stone walls, wood drawbridge for the moat, and spiral towers at all four corners, all created for making a statement. And by the skull flags wafting on the tower cones, it wasn't a cheerful one.   
  
"Strange..." Goku let go of Arale's leg to rub his chin. "You could really smell the castle?"   
  
"Not really," Arale shook her head, and motioned to her left. "Actually, the smell's over that way."   
  
"Hmm?" Goku turned in the direction of her hand. And then raised an eyebrow. Right beside the fortress was an ordinary wood outhouse, with a crescent moon carved into its doorframe. It was about seven feet high, five feet wide, and was so boring and typical that it was conspicuous, which made him take a step back.   
  
"Yup, that's it!" Arale chirped, taking a cue from Goku's countenance that he probably didn't give. "Go in there!"   
  
Goku looked at her strangely, wondering at the odd request. But the girl kept up her cheerful, excited grin, finding nothing weird about the idea at all. With a face like that, how could you say no?   
  
Turning away from the castle, Goku carried Arale twenty yards over to the outhouse. Once at the door, he repositioned Arale in his grip, and gently set her down on the grass. After that, he turned back around, grasped the door handle, and slowly pulled the door open. And then he lurched back in disgust.   
  
Noxious fumes poured from the small outhouse, stinking up all area within a six foot radius from it. All of the walls were corroded and chipped, serving as home to the gnats and their eggs. Mold covered the floor, dirt was backed into the corner, and an ugly yellow film covered the toilet cover. And inside the toilet...   
  
"Unchi-kun!" Arale cried up, pushing by Goku and rushing into the outhouse.   
  
"W-whoa!" Goku stammered, tottering sideways from the rough impact. Quickly gaining balance, he followed the girl into the small shelter, and took a look in the toilet, after peeling her off the wall she had crashed into. He took a really close look inside it...and then wrinkled his nose in skepticism.   
  
Right below the flush hole was a small, pink blob of goo. It was about the size of his fist, and was swirled upwards like soft-serve frozen yogurt. From it's basic physical appearance, it could probably be mistaken for a new flavor of McDonald's ice cream. But, from the haunting essences that emitted from this mystery object, Goku could tell that 'this' was the elusive aroma that Arale had detected back in the woods.   
  
"But Arale, this is just poo," Goku told her, who was scooted up beside him. "What's so great about that?"   
  
Arale jerked away. "It's NOT just poo!" she snapped indignantly, giving him a cross look. "It's Unchi-kun, the coolest thing in the whole wide world!" The girl reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small twig. "Look, I'll show ya!" she told him passionately, bending down to the level of the toilet bowl. With her stick poised outward, she moved it slowly towards the cool thing in question, and then slowly, methodically, she began to poke.   
  
"Pokity-poke-poke," she chanted as she jabbed Unchi-kun steadily. "Pokity-poke-poke. "Pokity-poke-poke," The mystery mound moved and jiggled with the sporadic pressure implemented upon it, wobbling like cafateria Jell-O. "Pokity-poke-poke, "Pokitieeee-poke-poke, Pokiteeheehee, HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!" and Arale was on the floor, clutching her stomach with overwhelming mirth. While Goku just looked on, his jaw dropped in astonishment.   
  
When she had finally gotten the laughter out of her system, Arale stumbled back to her feet, and stepped aside to the edge of the outhouse. "Here!" she said, motioning to the toilet bowl. "Now you try it!"   
  
"Are you sure?" the monkey-boy asked, staring transfixed at the poo. "I mean, it seems kinda...stinky."   
  
"Aw, don't be a peachy-head!" Arale protested good-naturedly. "Give Unchi-kun a chance!"   
  
Goku wasn't quite convinced by the girl's enthusiasm, and he did think the smell was pretty bad. But Arale seemed to have so much fun poking it, and she was really routing for him. "Well...alright," he decided finally, putting his hand to his back. "But I get t' use my stick, 'kay?"   
  
"'Kay!" Arale agreed, giving him a beaming smile.   
  
Goku said nothing, instead pulling Nyoibo from the sheath. Humming a quick mantra to himself, he increased the magic staff's length with a ruby red flash. Once it was about fourfeet long, he grasped it with two hands, and pointed it at the pink poo. Finally, he was ready.   
  
"Oooh!" Arale breathed in awe. "Good Unchi-stick!"   
  
He nodded once, but kept his eyes firmly on the goo cluster. With his knees bent into a fighting stance, he inched closer and closer to his adversary. His face sweated furiously, as Unchi-kun seemed to be mocking him, belittling him, ready to strike with a vengeance. But he would not back down.   
  
"C'mon... that's it..." Arale whispered, cheering him on. "You're almost there...just a little bit more..."   
  
With these cheers to drive him, he cocked Nyoibo into position. He closed one eye, moving the bo's point closer and closer to its target. For a brief second he stopped, and brung it backward just a might. He drew a bead on its most vital area...   
  
And then he struck.   
  
(POINK!) (WOBWOBWOB!!!)   
  
Unchi-kun fluttered and shivered with the light touch, pulsating wildly as if in distress. It wiggled around all over, too and fro, like a domino stack that had reached its limit. And like the domino stack, just as intriging.   
  
Goku stared at this phenomenon with awe. He had never seem such a weird reaction to a simple touch. As weird as the idea of poo-poking was, it was strangely hypnotizing, even pleasurable, in an odd way. But just as soon as it begun, it was over, and Unchi-kun reverted back to its original position.   
  
Goku looked at it. Then, quicker this time, he poked it again.   
  
(POINK!) (WOBWOBWOB!!!)   
  
And again.   
  
(POINK!) (WOBWOBWOB!!!)   
  
And then, just a bit harder.   
  
(POWINK!) (W-WOBW-WOBW-WOBW-WOB!!!)   
  
"Wow!" Goku declared, a wide grin stretching on his face. "This IS fun!"   
  
Arale smiled approvingly. "Told ya!" she said, sharing in his joy.   
  
Both of them now joined in the fun, torturing poor little Unchi-kun with their sticks. "Pokity-poke-poke." (WOBWOBWOB!!!) "Pokity-pokity-poke-poke." (WOBWOBWOB!!!) They jabbed and jabbed, laughing way too excitedly for what they were doing. (WOBWOBWOBWOB!!!)  
  
"Pokity-poke-poke!" Goku announced with glee, jabbing out at poo. "Pokity-poke-poke!" Goku repeated, as he took another shot at it. "Pokity-poke-poke!" Goku cheered as he struck with Nyoibo. Only this time he missed.   
  
In his glee, Goku had forgotten to aim properly, and the pole shot past the poo to the toilet. (DOOK!) it clacked against the seat, shaking the stall a bit. "Whoops," Goku laughed, putting a hand behind his head. "Missed that time..."   
  
(CLANG!)   
  
"Wha..." Goku took a step back at the sudden sound. "What was that?"   
  
"I don't...oh!" Arale's eyes widened. "Look, Goku-kun, LOOK!"   
  
The boy looked back at the toilet, finding something a little bit different. While his last poke had missed Unchi--kun, it had pushed in a small segment in the toilet. It was a rounded button, designed to blend in seemlessly with the rest of the seat. Now that it was pushed in, though, it was quite clear that there was something odd about this outhouse.   
  
That was when the trapdoor opened.   
  
"WHA!!!" Goku cried at the floor folded downwards, loosing his footing.   
  
"AH!!!" Arale squeaked, jumping up at the sudden loss of support.   
  
The boards swung downwards, making segments of a chasm wall. Below was a large vertical drop, swooping into the darkness of the underworld. The hole seemed endless, like you'd just keep falling if you ever dared to take a chance. But if you did, you probably wouldn't be thinking in fancy, descriptive paragraphs such as these, right?   
  
"HOYOOO!!!" the two hollered as they fell.   
  
*****   
  
While Goku and Arale were shooting to certain doom, a lone Red Ribbon soldier was walking dimly lit cooridors, briskness in his step. At an even pace he moved through the passages, keeping his step quick and businesslike. He was on business, after all, and he had to look the part.   
  
The RR turned the corner, and proceeded down a larger hallway. On each side of the walls were his fellow soldiers, standing at the ready. He ignored them though; they were of little concern. All he needed to concentrate on was the door in front of him, and the report he carried.   
  
His hand reached out, and gently rapped on the door. Readjusting the folder in his arm, the RR waited for his superior to respond. After about thirty seconds, "Come in," a deep, bass voice spoke from inside, ushering him in. He took the cue, grasped the door handle, and slowly opened it, walking inside.   
  
In itself, the room was nothing so extravagant. Just a standard office, complete with a chair for visitors, shelves full of unread books, and a large, woodgrain desk. It was what was behind the desk that was disturbing. Seated in the revolving chair was a tall, dark figure, with a lanky frame and piercing white eyes. His counterence was stiff, his mouth was rigid, he put off the perfect image of disapline and control. And of power.   
  
The RR wasn't intimidated, though. He knew that that as long as you did your job, you would have no trouble. "I'm here with today's report, sir," he reported, handing him the report.   
  
The shadowed figure took the papers from the man's hand and systematicly scrolled through them. After flipping through about three pages, he let out a quiet smile. "Very good," he said to himself. "The plan is already underway." The figure peeked up from the report. "And the prototypes are ready for launch?" he asked.   
  
"Yes sir," The RR responded confidently. "In fact, our man is already working on the advance designs. At about a week from now, we'll be ready for go."   
  
"Excellent," the shadow man said. he placed the report back on the desk, and motioned with his hand. "You are dismissed." he ordered.   
  
The solider didn't move, but instead looked back at the boss. "Just one question, sir," he requested, hoping he wasn't speaking out of turn.   
  
The man took no offence. "Speak,' he ordered.   
  
"A lot of travelers in this sector have been using the lavatory." the RR explained bluntly. "I'm wondering if there's a chance our base might be uncovered."   
  
A low chuckle emited from the man's throat. "Of course not." he assured the soldier. "With that fake castle we set up, any interlopers will be too distracted to seek any further. After all, who would believe that a simple outhouse is the entrance to our base. Trust me, soldier," He placed his hands on the desk. "No one's going to stumble in here, except maybe some poo-crazy kids."   
  
"Right, sir," the RR agreed, stiffling a small chuckle.   
  
(BWOOP! BWOOP!) Suddenly, the screen atop the boss' desk blinked red. "Excuse me," the boss said to his subordinate. "The left security camera has picked up some unauthorized movement." He clicked on the screen lightly, bringing the image up. Once it had focused properly, he studied it curiously, with one hand on his chin. Then, all of a sudden, he let out a light laugh. "Well, well well..." he murmered, a soft smile coming to his face.   
  
"Sir?" The RR soldier carefully scooted forward, cranning his neck to see the screen. When he got a good look at the screen, his shoulders jerked back in surprise. "I don't believe it!" he gasped, goggling out at the screen.   
  
The man clicked off the screen and reached for a small keypad. "Look's like we'll need those prototypes faster than we thought." he said causally, pressing down the white button.   
  
*****   
  
Goku: "Part 2 will be comin' soon."   
  
Arale: "Don't go bye-cha!"   



	4. Tale 2, Part 2

  
Jan-ken PUNCH!   
  
By Reid M. Haynes   
  
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies, as well as all characters within. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.   
  
Legend:   
{ } Denotes sound effects.   
  
Tale 2: Red Ribbon's Red Button, Part 2   
  
*****   
  
"Ugh, what a drop," Goku commented, brushing his hair free of the stray debris formed from his earth shattering crash. "Never knew jabbin' at crap could cause all this."   
  
"No need to worry now," Arale commented with a slightly disappointed accent. "Unchi-kun's gone ka-poop." She looked down at the flattened mound of plop, and sadly shook her head.   
  
"Oh well," the boy shrugged, picking up his fallen Nyoibo and thrusting it into his sheath. "Might as well get outta this place."   
  
"Yeah," she agreed, and turned away from her broken toy. "There's not much stuff t' play with anyway."   
  
Arale's analysis was pretty right on, judging from the general surroundings. The trapdoor they had fallen into had brought them to a dank, stone cavern, carrying odors very much similar to the outhouse, though that might only have been the presence of the flattened Unchi-kun. But unlike the outhouse, the chamber carried no objects of interest; just a door, and our hero and heroine.   
  
Goku walked over to the exit, with Arale trailing close behind. He opened up the doorway and stepped through, entering a new hall. Then he stepped right back out, and went to fetch his friend, who was turning circles trying to find the door. Holding onto her wrist, he led her carefully through the door, and resumed traveling through.   
  
The passage the duo shared was a bit more charitable than the previous room, though not more interesting. Cold looking walls, cold looking floors, and doors, doors, doors, all lined up in sequential order, an epitome of boringness.   
  
Goku and Arale glanced from side to side, trying to figure out which way to go. It was a bit of trouble, though, since pretty much everything looked exactly alike. The whole place was organized in a way that every hall looked like every other hall, differentiated only by the codes on each of the doors: A102, B703, X850...   
  
"Hoyo?" Arale asked suddenly. "What's that red thing?"   
  
She pointed out at a door, and Goku turned to take a look. Painted on the wood in large, red letters was the words: "TOP SECRET: KEEP OUT!"   
  
When he relayed this back, Arale burst out with a bright smile. "I bet there's a lotta neat stuff there!" she bubbled enthusiastically. "Let's go see!"   
  
"Are you sure," Goku asked her hesitantly. "I mean, it looks like we're not supposed t' go in there."   
  
But the girl had already dashed through, the door swinging behind to slam against the wall with a {BAM!}, leaving several cracks embedded within. Goku stared after her for a moment more, then shrugged, "Oh well," and followed her in.   
  
*****   
  
"Oh hell!" the soldier called out at the images on the monitor. "They're in!"   
  
The mystery man smiled softly. "Hmm, interesting," he said, folding his arms. "Now the plot thickens."   
  
The soldier looked at him, almost disgusted in his superior's reaction. "Sir, they've entered the restricted area," he said, his voice rising a few decibels. "Who knows, they might even find it!"   
  
"Let them find it," he responded coolly, leaning back in his swivel chair. "It'll be the perfect place to try them out." The boss swept his hand causally to his side and picked up a hot cup of Oolong tea. "Finally," he breathed through the steam. "We have the perfect test dummies for our new items."  
  
He took a small sip.   
  
*****   
  
The new chamber was even more darkly lit than the hallways before it. Only a few flickering lights buzzed overhead, barely lighting the concrete floor below it. A shame too, because there was a lot more to see in this room.   
  
The room was filled wall to wall with massive assortments of forbidden weaponry. Rocket launchers, molotovs, even a small tank, it was all here, cluttering up so much space that there was only a small space to navigate.   
  
"Huh," Goku spoke quietly, taking it all in. "Look's like she was right after all." He walked down the asile, glancing left and right at the various machine guns, grenades, land mines, etc. Nothing he would use in combat, but he guessed it could be useful to someone not fighting a really strong opponent.   
  
"I wonder where Arale-chan is?" he murmured to himself, trying to look beyond a large bomb. 'Hope she hasn't tripped on anything..."   
  
And in answer to his silent question..."   
  
"Goku-kun! I found something!" a shrill voice called out from his immediate left. "Come, come!"   
  
Turned to the sound, the boy spied a second path cutting through the materials, leading to an open doorway some distance away. Quickly picking up the pace, he jogged on up to the intersection and quickly made his way to the shining light of the door way. As the light hit his face, he took a quick look at the new surroundings. And found them to be of considerable interest.   
  
The room was as bare as the room they had landed in at the start, with only a wooden table in the center, a small overhead lamp above it, and of course Arale, standing closely beside it. But on the top of the table, shrouded in spotlight, was something much, much more. True, it was a rather small; about 2 inches in diameter, with a flat, cylinder shape. But by the eye catching luminescence of its color, and the shear fact of what it actually was, gave it the appeal and attractiveness of a snowman's mass in gold.   
  
It was a red button.   
  
"Looky looky Goku-kun!" Arale babbled, pointing out. "It's a shiny red button!"   
  
Goku walked over to the table "Hmm...it does look like a button," he reasoned, turning to her. "But what should we do with it?"   
  
"Its a shiny button!" the girl reiterated, grinning eccentrically. "Let's press it!"   
  
"Press it?" Goku wondered, as if the idea of pushing a button was totally new to him. "Well...I guess so," he decided after a short moment. "What harm could it do?"   
  
"Yay!" Arale raised one hand, and sent her index bolting toward the button. "Press press!"   
  
Both of them watched the finger make contact.   
  
{BLONK!}   
  
And then, for one moment in time, everything was frozen.   
  
Goku's look of expectance. Arale's look of excitement. This moment stretched out for hours.   
  
Then days...   
  
Weeks...   
  
And finally, time resumed.   
  
Goku and Arale stared at the button for another second. Then they blinked.   
  
"It...it didn't do anything!" Goku exclaimed, his mouth hanging open. "It's a dud!"   
  
Arale threw up her arms in frustration. "This place is a bore!" she called out to the concrete walls. "Even the shiny red buttons do nothing!"   
  
"Fools..."   
  
"Hoyo...?" Arale glanced all about her. "What was that?"   
  
Both of them turned to the sound of the voice, which turned out to be a small loudspeaker positioned in the celing corner. "Heh heh," a low male voice chuckled from its wiry depths. "You don't know anything about electronics, do you? The red button dosen't do anything on its own. It's useless trying to activate a device without the machine connected to it. However..." His pitch slowed into a modulated drawl. "I have some gadgets that work just fine without switches, which I will be introducing to you shortly."   
  
"Why are you talkin' inside that box?" Goku asked, looking up at the speaker. "Didja fall in one of those tiny holes?"   
  
"That's not important!" the voice snapped at him, spit somehow emitting from the box. "What's important is the mean, destruction machines that I'm about to unleash upon you!" The voice calmed itself with a slight chuckle and regained its cool cackle. "Prepare yourself...' it said snidely. "...for the MJ2000s! Good luck."   
  
The speaker then clicked off.   
  
Goku and Arale searched the room, alert for any surprises. They checked the open doorway, and glanced out to the weapons room, waiting to see if any of the tanks would be deployed against them. Yet nothing happened, and the room continued to be as quiet as even.   
  
Goku looked back and forth, folding his arms. "Is somethin' supposed t' happen?" he asked, half to himself.   
  
"Boring!" Arale complained, rolling her eyes.   
  
{DAKOON!!!}   
  
Suddenly, the cement wall burst open with a titanic crash. Chunks of rocks bolted out from the jagged hole, coming mere inches from pelting the two kids. Each piece shattered against the room's opposite end, the small shards embedding themselves within.   
  
Both of them turned in surprise at the broken bits, and their eyes widened. A mysterious light was surrounding them, reflected from outside the room. Bright white, and unnatural.   
  
They turned back to the hole.   
  
And faced their new opponents.   
  
From out of the newly created entrance came three strange robots, arranged in single file. Each of them were shaped as upright frogs, with a green metallic surface emulating amphibious skin. On their heads they wore identical black top hats, and in their "hands" they carried long canes. Their corneas were like slick, cue balls, and in the center glowed tiny pinpricks of red.   
  
And their saggy maws were opening, revealing brilliantly shining incisors.   
  
Then, they began to sing and dance.   
  
MJ2000 A: (kicking legs) "Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal...!"   
  
MJ2000 B: (spinning cane) "Send me a kiss by wire..."   
  
MJ2000 C: (raising hands) "Baby, my heart's on fiiirrreee!"   
  
Goku and Arale stared at these robots at they continued to perform, blank expressions on their faces. "..."   
  
MJ2000 A: "If you refuse me, baby you lose me..."   
  
MG2000 B: "Then you'll be left alone...!"  
  
MG2000 C: "Oh baby, telephone..."   
  
MG2000 A, B, + C: (with arms around each other) "And tell me I'm your owwnnn!"   
  
And as quickly as they started, the frogbots reverted back to a comatose state. "Rrriiibit."   
  
Goku continued to gaze at the MJ2000's, his eyes like medusa's gaze. "Hoyo..." he mumbled quietly, cocking his head to the side.   
  
{ZZMMM!!!} a slick, red cable shot from one of the robot's open mouths, streaking towards Goku's head. "Whaa...!" The boy ducked just in time, and the weapon flew over his head and "THTOK" ground six feet into the concrete wall behind him.   
  
The other two MJ2000's, A and C, were now opening their mouths.   
  
So Goku made up his mind. "Let's roll!" he called out, grabbing Arale and tucking her under his arm.   
  
{SHZZZAAAMMM!!!} Red tongues slurped out of A and C's mouths, springing together on a path to the two teenagers. But Goku was already ahead of then, and carried him and his friend into a leap that left the two robots tasting dust. Tilting his momentum, the martial artist swept backwards to aim his feet at the ceiling...just as MJ2000 B was removing its tongue from the wall.   
  
B curled the wire up into a swirl. Then (ZZMMM!!!} it bolted out again, firing high for its target. Yet Goku had retained his energy on the ceiling, and used it to push off and move towards the rightmost wall. {PING!} {PANG!} he bounded off the walls in a zigzagging path, an orange streak roaming the compartment, before finally making his way to the open doorway and back to the open arsenal, where he'd have more room to maneuver.   
  
Twisting about in midair, Goku flew towards a small helicopter and set foot on its motionless blade, getting in a suitable battle position. As suitable as one could get in his situation, anyway.   
  
"Hoyo," Arale spoke from Goku's armpit. "Sounds like something happenin'"   
  
{KAKUN!} MJ2000s A and B carved themselves new exits from the small room, whilst C moved through the original hole, getting in order with its brothers. Each of the robots took a big gulp, and cocked their tongues in their mouths. Then...   
  
"KZZZMMM!!!" Goku jumped off of the tank and into the air, as the three cables shattered the vehicle into a sloppy pile of scrap. He somersaulted on through and landed on the floor just as B and C readied their weaponry. {ZZING} {ZZING} {ZONG!} The two tongues alternatingly assaulted our hero, keeping him jumping rope franticly. They led him in a crazy dance, lapping him over to a set of rifles just in time for A to make its move. "ZCLATT!" it jolted like a whip, and Goku had barely enough time to dodge. "ZZZIT!" Lashing across the ground, the cable cut a trench in the concrete, before it {CLASHTATATAT!} crashed into the guns, spreading them all about as the boy landed back down.   
  
Goku looked at the scattered rifles, and turned back defiantly to the MJ2000 series. "So ya like to lap things up, eh?" he challenged, shaking his fist. "Well then..."   
  
He bent his knees.   
  
"SLURP ON THIS!" and launched himself on a crash course for MJ2000 A, his foot outstreched in a lethal kick.   
  
"Oh!" Arale peeped, the cap blown from her head as she hung in Goku's arm.   
  
The two moved closed and closer to the target.   
  
{BONG!}   
  
Then they moved farther and farther away from the target as they bounced harmlessly off of its armored plating, causing not so much as a dent in the surface.   
  
"What th' heck!?" Goku exclaimed, just as soon as he had scrambled to his feet again. "He should be blowed up right now!"   
  
"Where's my cap?" Arale exclaimed, waving her hands around her head.   
  
A, B, and C slowly started their assault, moving closer and closer to the pair. Their tongues whipped and lashed about them, brandished with fury as ruthless as the blood-red in their cold eyes.   
  
"Rats!" he cursed under his breath. "If I can't smash em', how can I beat em'!"  
  
"Wish I could help," the girl said, looking up lazily at him. "I'd have a pretty big punch, if I tried."   
  
"Yeah..." Goku responded laconicly, glaring at his enemies.   
  
{PLIK!} Suddenly a light bulb clicked inside his head. He turned sharply to Arale. "Arale-chan, you're pretty dense, right?" he asked franticly, gripping her shoulder roughly.   
  
"Um, I guess so," she answered, missing the unintended insult completely. "But what does..."   
  
"That's it!" Readjusting Arale in his arm, Goku cocked her back into his hand. Bending his elbow, he hauled back all the way until he held her in a football throwing position. "Alright," he said, narrowing his eyes to the approaching MJ2000s. "When I let rip, you ram your fists inta them as hard as ya can!"   
  
"Yay!" she cheered, grinning enthusiastically. "I get to do somethin' cool!"   
  
"Heh, you know it!" A small smirk grew on Goku's face as he grew ready for his attack. Concentrating on the enemies ahead, he gauged their respective distances carefully, trying to pick out the closest threat. His roaming eyes bounced from opponent to opponent, and they eventually came to rest on MJ2000 A, who was moving just a little bit ahead of the others.   
  
He reeled his body back, and...   
  
"Ready...GO!!!"   
  
For any of you Dr. Slump fans, this seems like a good time to cue some cheery "Wai Wai World" instrumentals...   
  
{SHOOM!} he launched Arale out in a bolt of purple fervor, straight at MJ2000 A. She spun and spun and...   
  
{KLONCH!} ...her head smashed into the robot's head, scattering gears everywhere. She embedded her feet in its shattered innards and {BING} kicked herself into a series of midair backflips, landing her straight back into Goku's palm.   
  
The broken frogbot tottered about a bit, its main core in shreds. It wavered back a bit, then toppled over onto its face with a clang, the red in its eyes draining away.   
  
"Goody!" Arale yipped out. "I got one!"   
  
"Two more t' go!" Goku agreed, smiling at her.   
  
The two remaining MJs whirled their tongues around, as if ready to avenge their fallen comrade. {SLOCK!} {SHLOCK!} they whipped out at him, hitting nothing but air. Flying up, Goku aimed his missile and {FOOM!} threw her into {KACHUK!} what was now scrap.   
  
Goku landed on the floor, and Arale rolled back to his side, ready to face the last opponent. MJ2000 C seemed to have learned from the mistakes of the fallen, however, and had its bulky flippers covering his face in a solid guard. Not that this discouraged our team, though.   
  
"Okay, a little more power for this one," Goku said, picking up Arale.   
  
"Right!" she said, while being lifted overhead.   
  
He clutched her waist with both hands, bending his arms behind him. His shoulders strained with the effort while aiming for his target.   
  
"HAAA!!!" and the shoulders were relieved as he chunked her, legs first, at the last 'bot. Moving at an even faster speed, Arale bent her knees, storing power in her legs. Just as she reached her enemy...   
  
"ARALE KICK!!!" she smashed her shoes into MJ2000, sending it flying all the way back to the button room, where {KABLAM!!!} it burst into flaming conflagration, sparks flying out of the broken walls and into the arsenal, thankfully not igniting any bombs present.   
  
"Heh!" Goku snickered lightly, observing the remains of the chaotic battle. The weapons room was a complete mess, littered with the slashes and scrapes the tongues had cut. Several of the gun racks had fallen over, spreading their contents with the other odds and ends about. And some of the larger transports has been demolished completely, broken into small collections of shards, like leaf piles on autumn days, built up after a hard afternoon's work.   
  
"Well, that's that!" Goku grinned, dusting his hands off. He walked over to Arale's cap, lying next to a couple grenades, and swept it off the ground. Holding it by its wing, we walked over to his expectant friend, standing close by the button room. "What say we smash outta here?" he asked, offering her the cap.   
  
She grinned, and took the bill with her fingertips. "Okay!' she said, straightening it on top of her head.   
  
Goku nodded once, walking over to the end of the arsenal, where a large wall halted their progress. He took a close look at this obstinate obstacle, then arranged himself sideways in a combat stance. His forward hand went limp, and his other clinched into a hard fist. It reached back a bit, gaining power.   
  
"Paper, scissors, ROCK!!!"   
  
He then threw it forward.   
  
*****   
  
"It's all coming down, boss!" the RR soldier cried, struggling to retain his footing. "The foundation's giving way!" Finally standing up, he carefully treaded across the floor, trying to make his way to his superior's desk. But when he was three-fourths of the way there, another small tremor shook him off his feet, hurling him into a stack of papers, scattering them everywhere.   
  
The whole compound was falling apart. Somehow, those two little punks had damaged the concrete structure that held the place together. All the rooms on top were crumbing over one another, like a card building with the bottom one removed. The soldier even thought he could see the rec. room above protruding from the ceiling, but it might have been just the pool table.   
  
He pressed his hands on the desk, and slowly pushed himself upright again. "Sir, we've got to get out of here!" he told him, staring at the boss' chair. "There's a Capsule plane in Section 2A. If we hurry, we might make it..." The soldier took a closer look at his superior, and raised his eyebrows. "Sir?"   
  
The man wasn't scrambling out of his seat like he should. In fact, he was just sitting there, still holding onto his coffee cup, which had about a third of the cooling fluid left. So calm, so composed, like the coffee in the cup.   
  
He moved the mug to his mouth, and took a second to down the rest of his beverage. And then, although the soldier couldn't see behind the chair's back, he knew his superior was smiling. "So, you win this round, kids," he said coolly, resting the cup's handle on his finger. "I wonder how long you can keep this up."   
  
Smartly, he placed his empty cup back on the desk, and swirled his chair to face the subordinate. "Tell all remaining troops to gather as much as they can from the underground arsenal." he ordered. "Then retreat, and rendezvous at the nearest Red Ribbon base."   
  
"But sir, what about you?" the soldier asked hesitantly, standing at the ready.   
  
He just smiled mysteriously. "Soldier, you should know by now that I'm always one step ahead of the rest," he said, and pressed on a small button on the armrest. All of a sudden, a large metal umbrella slid out of the seat back, bending over his head in an amazing display of mechanics. Then {BLARE!} huge jets of flame burst from underneath, and the chair rose up like a rocket, drilling through the ceiling, out of the room and, presumingly, out of the base.   
  
The soldier stared up at the hole where his commander had vanished, a blank expression on his face. But soon, another quake ravaged the chamber, shaking loose an 8-ball to land on his skull, waking him from the confusion. He quickly decided to spring to action, jumping over the desk and hitting the intercom. He turned the volume to maximum level, and took a deep breath. "All remaining troops, listen up!" he announced into the microphone. "These orders are directly from the boss, so be ready to act on my mark!"   
  
*****   
  
Along the hills and valleys that made up the countryside, a seismic shake snaked under terra firma, disrupting the life cycles of many forest creatures. The birds left their nests and fled from their trees, and the squirrels scrambled confused all about, sometimes even running into each other, knocking their nut stores out of their mouth and onto the grass, where they franticly tried to pick them up again before accidentally hitting their heads again.   
  
Beyond the moat, the old, gray fortress was the only thing that remained standing upright. The stone walls were trying their best to endure against the magnitude of the earthquake that assaulted its wall. But alas, by the pebbles and shells that sprung up from the moat waters, and the telltale shivers of its very composition, it was not to last.   
  
The castle teetered to and fro, as if it were only made of cardboard. Then....   
  
{FUMP!} {FUMP!} {FUMP! {FUMP!} each of the walls fell two dimensionally across the moat, creating the look of a flattened box, revealing within its castle confines...nothing.   
  
And on the inside flap of the false battlements, read the warning: "THIS SIDE UP."   
  
*****   
  
Forest life busies itself with many concerns. Animals attend to their daily concerns. Wind runs through the leaves. A single chestnut falls down on the forest path. It makes a sound. Just one small sound. Forest life busies itself with many concerns.   
  
"Well, that certainly was interesting," the boy said, while pacing down the pathway. "About time I got a good fight in."   
  
"Fun, too!" his cargo joined in, raising her palms to the sky. "Almost as fun as pokin' poo!"   
  
For a moment, he looked as if he was about to say something, but decided against it, feeling what he said wasn't worth it. He just picked up the pace.   
  
Goku and Arale were trudging away from the broken down "castle," trying to make up for lost time. Arale was once again on back, held up by Goku's hands, still encrusted with concrete dust. Behind them lurked a large sinkhole, where the mysterious passages lay crush under fifty feet of red clay. In front of them stretched the path, which swerved haphazardly through the trees to serve the walkers, not to mention the forest life.   
  
"It's too bad we never got t' figure out what that button was for," Goku sighed regretfully. "For some reason, I coulda sworn it was worth more than it seemed."   
  
"Don't worry!" Arale perked, looking down into his face. "We c'n always find out later!"   
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, turning up to her. But the girl only smiling mischiviously, putting a hand in her pocket. She whipped out a small object. "Ta dah!" she cheered, presenting it to him.   
  
"The...the red button!" Goku gasped, grabbing it from her hand. "How'd you find it!?"   
  
"I picked it up while you were bashin' the wall!" she giggled, tilting her head cutely. "Now we can find out whAAA...!" Without Goku holding onto her with both hands, Arale lost her balance and began to fall backwards. Franticly, she grabbed at his hair, trying to regain her place. But her grip was too strong, and "WHAAA!!!" the two ended up flipping backwards and {WHUMP} falling onto their backs in a sea of dust.   
  
Goku and Arale drug their faces out of the dirt, slowly moving to their knees. They looked at each other curiously, as if wondering who to blame for this catastrophe. Then one of them let out a small giggle, prompting the other to smile as well, and soon both of them were laughing like crazy, holding onto their stomachs in panicked mirth.   
  
And soon, they were back on their way.   
  
*****   
  
Additional Disclaimer(s): "Hello My, Baby" belongs to Joseph Howard and Ida Emerson. "Wai Wai World" is the opening theme to Dr. Slump, which will come into play a little later in the story. (at which then I'll give credit where it's due.)   
  
*****   
  
Arale: "N'cha! In the next chapter, we take a pit stop at the lake t' have a little snack!"   
  
Goku: "Good food's hard to find, so you have to take whatcha get...hey! What's happened t' the water here? "   
  
Goku/Arale: (with arms around each other) "All this and more, in the next exciting chapter of 'Jan-ken PUNCH!'"   
  
RisanF: "Until next time, ja ne! ^_^"   



	5. Tale 3, Part 1

Jan-ken PUNCH!   
  
By Reid M. Haynes   
  
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies, as well as all characters within. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.   
  
Legend:   
( ) Denotes thoughts.   
{ } Denotes sound effects.   
  
*****   
  
Arale-ism of the Day: "N'cha"   
  
Definition: (from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary)   
  
Main Entry: N'cha   
Pronunciation: 'N'chAH   
Function: interjection   
Etymology: Japanese, from "Konnichiwa."   
Date:1980   
1 : typical greeting delivered by Arale-chan. May also be modified into "bye-cha" to serve as an exit (Ex1: "N'cha!" Arale called out to the homeless, disillusioned beggar.) 2: a high powered blast emitted from the mouth, capable of halting any foe. (Ex1: "N'CHAAA!!!" Arale screamed as she fired a glowing bolt at the sinister hippopotamus.)   
  
Publisher's Note: If you attempt to actually look up "N'cha" in a modern dictionary, you are an idiot. If you looked up both "N'cha" AND "Hoyo" in a modern dictionary, you are probably as big of a fanboy (fangirl?) as yours truly.   
  
Tale 3: Let's Help Our Dolphin Friends! Part 1   
  
*****   
  
{FWAA!!!} The tartan blanket swelled like rolling sea waves, stretching out to its full size. It remained suspended above the ground for a moment longer, calmly hovering in midair. Soon, it began to slowly waver downwards, first the sides, next the middle. And finally, the article was spread completely on the ground, completely flat and smooth as silk.   
  
Goku let go of the blanket's corners and laid it carefully on the grass. "Okay, now that that's settled," he started, untying a large knapsack and holding it above the picnic spot. "Let's get to it!"   
  
And {SHWOMP!} all of the food instantly poured from the bag, and he immediately jumped onto it. {HOMP! SMACK! SLUMP} Goku clawed away at his pile, grabbing as much as he could and shoving it into his mouth. He swallowed a whole chicken, licked up an egg roll, sucked up a cantaloupe, chomped on a donkey...   
  
He looked over to his side, his mouth hanging open with some loose coleslaw. Arale wasn't eating. She just sat there, knees tucked in, and watched him gorge himself. She did seem vaguely curious about Goku's actions, but nowhere on her face did she express any interest in taking part of any of it.   
  
"Hey, ya know, you can have some too," Goku smacked, holding up a drumstick. "Doncha want any of it?"   
  
"Nope," Arale said simply. "I don't eat."   
  
(whaAA?!) Goku let his mouth full drool off his chin and back onto the blanket, forming a sloppy puddle of chewed meat. (She dosen't call me names, and she dosen't eat. Man, what kinda girl is she?)   
  
When he questioned her about this oddity, she just grinned and reached behind her. "I don't need t' eat..." Arale fumbled through her back pocket. "...'cause I got this!" Out of the pocket she whipped out a small bottle, presenting it to Goku. From all appearances, it looked like an ordinary sports drink, and contained roughly one half liter of oddly colored liquid within.   
  
"What's this for?" Goku asked, taking the bottle from her grasp and examining it curiously.   
  
She grinned proudly. "'Robobitan A!'" she answered, putting her hands on her hips. "It's my 'genki drink!''"   
  
"Huh," Goku shrugged, toying with the bottle in his hands. "So chuggin' this thing means you don't hatfa eat?"   
  
"Yup!" she nodded. "One bottle keeps me supercharged for a good long while!"   
  
Goku peered even closer at the drink dubbed "Robobitan A," trying to figure this stuff out. The bottle seemed like such a dinky, insignificant little thing. Could it really alleviate hunger all by itself? Arale thought so, and she was cruising along just fine. So he guessed so.   
  
He tossed the drink behind him lazily. "That's no fun," he snorted, rolling his eyes disdainfully. "How lame."   
  
"Hoyo?" Arale cocked an eyebrow at Goku. "What's wrong with 'Robobitan A?'"   
  
"Nuthin's wrong; it's just boring," he responded, shrugged his shoulders. "Half the fun o' fillin' up is stuffin' it all in, so what's so great about somethin' that lasts so short?"   
  
"Um...I don't freeze up?" she tried, pointing up a finger.   
  
Goku shook his head. "Not good enough," he said sternly, then took her hand. "C'mon, let me show ya how t' get some REAL food," and then he pulled her to her feet and started to lead her away.   
  
"But what about your..." Arale stopped mid-breath... "...lunch." as she looked at a completely foodless picnic blanket, with only a couple of bones and boxes scattered spaciously about it."   
  
"Yeah," he said, noticing her astonishment. "Not much, is it." The boy walked over to Arale, and took her arm. "We'd better hurry, 'fore I get hungry again,"   
  
Goku then walked them from the site at a normal pace.   
  
*****   
  
A lone bird soared across the overworld, cuting swathes through the misty clouds blocking the way. Wings spread, swooping down, this bird boldly cut lower to the surface until it almost touched the land below. It's speed increased sharply as it banked sharply on a turn, lowering its left feathers to the surface. Then (KSSS!!!) a large blade of water jerked from where the wing slashed, creating a mist that chilled the bird as it flew towards the noon time sun.   
  
Below the departing creature, where the water droplets still glistened in the breeze, was a beautiful lagoon. Pure as crystal, it reflected every cumulus with matchless perfection, displacing not a bit of the blue sea of sky. Coasting the rims of the rink lie tall pines and small shrubs, giving a home to the creatures populating this area and supplying to food to them...and to any passerby wandering through.   
  
"Almost there!" Goku chimed, licking the seeds from his mouth. Moving between two of the taller trees, he drug Arale with his left arm, and fingered a few berries with his right. As he headed towards the large boulder ahead, he maneuvered a berry under his thumb, smoothly cocking into air and (PIK!) deftly flicking the fruit into the air.   
  
With a deft hop, he sprung onto the rock, taking the girl with him. "And here we are!" he said, and swiftly caught the falling berry on his tongue, just in time. (DOP!)   
  
Arale gazed out to the misty view before her. "What're we doin' here?" she asked, glancing at the big blue splotch in front of her.   
  
"Fishin'. Goku answered, letting go of her arm. He started to fiddle with his belt, unlooping it and letting it go saggy.   
  
"Hoyo?" Arale scratched her head while watching. "Doncha need special poles 'n' junk?"   
  
"Poles?" The boy glanced over at Nyoibo for a brief second, then shrugged. "Well, I guess you could use stuff like that," he responded nonchalantly, while pulling his vest over his huge locks. "But I don't see why."   
  
With that, Goku kicked off his fallen pants and slipped off his shoes, leaving him in only his birthday suit, preferential swim wear. Oh, and get your minds out of the gutters; this isn't a hentai fic.   
  
"Damn it," said the hentai, sulking away disappointed to something more sexually erotic.   
  
Back at the actual story, Goku was stretching up and down to prep himself for submersion. His tail bobbed back, seamingly in anticipation for the wet waters' cold touch. He bent his knees a bit.   
  
(SHWOOP!) then he launched in a nosedive towards the lagoon, hands together like a harpoon to cut into the waves. He bolted deep underwater and skimmed his way rapidly through, leaving little bubbles from his small breaths. Kicking his legs, he created a fluctuation that masked his movements until he reached the deeper areas. And soon, when he did sink to those depths, he disappeared completely, lost in a world of fantasy and fish.   
  
Arale just stared after Goku's vanishing form, trying to make it out beneath the waves. She couldn't, of course, but it was worth trying, if simply for lack of anything better to do. She couldn't hear anything either; after her new friend had sunk below, all was quiet around the lagoon, motionless and cold. It was as if all time had stopped upon his entering the water, and she could only wait impatiently.   
  
She peered through the waves, her eyes wide with curiosity. (Is he playing hide and seek?) the girl wondered, blinking twice.   
  
One moment later, though, her question would be answered. More bubbles were rising to the surface, forming into a wreathy foam. The motionless mirror soon grew distorted as swells and eddies formed like a rumpled carpet, signs of tremendous strife in the sea reef. It grew more rabid as time passed...   
  
Then, with a few last bubbles twirping to the surface, the lagoon grew calm once more, as if nothing had ever happened at all.   
  
Arale blinked again.   
  
And just as soon as she looked again, {KERSPLASH!} a huge form launched itself upwards, ascending from the water at a tremendous rate. It rose to an apex in the air, tumbling in an arc, then rolled down to the boulder where she stood.   
  
Just in time, Arale darted out of the way, leaving room for the shape to make its landing. When its feet finally hit the granite outlook, she took a closer look at this mystery object. Although her sight was near that of a cave salamander, she could still tell that the creature was actually two creatures, one large and one small. The large one appeared to be some monstrous underwater lifeform, like something you might find in an elaborate movie-themed ride. The small one was vaguely humanlike in shape, and seemed to be grasping the larger one by the tail. Yet very few could do what this "human" just did...   
  
"How's this?" Goku beamed, letting go of the six-foot fish's tail.   
  
"Wow, cool!" Arale cheered out loud. "You caught it!"   
  
He smiled easily. "Usually these guys put up quite a fight," he explained, motioning to his prize. "But this one went down real easily!"   
  
She walked over to the fallen fish and knelt down. Her hands then set about examining the object and trying to make it out. "Y'know, I think ya hit it too hard," she commented. "It's all beat up and scrungy."   
  
Turning around at her comments, Goku took a look at his catch, and lurched back in disgust. "Ugh!" he groaned, wrinkling his nostrils. "That's no good!"   
  
All of the scales were covered in some sort of faint fungus, giving the fish a greasy, yellow tinge. Goku could also see large swells of purple arising in bumps over its sides and tail. And the eyes, already glassy from death, carried a hue that showed, even if it hadn't been hunted, death wasn't so far off for it.   
  
"Can't eat this," he decided, putting his hands under its bulk. "Better ditch it." With a single heave, he lifted the fish up over his head, barely straining at all. Next, he walked over to the edge of the large boulder overlooking the lagoon, trying to find the best place to toss it. Looking carefully, he spied a good spot in the darker areas of the pool, and prepared his throw.   
  
"Pi-pii, wait!"   
  
But as soon as his arms were to make the arc, a silvery shape popped out in front of the rock, coming up to his nose. "W-whoa!" Goku staggered back, trying to hold onto the fish. Yet he was already too far gone, so in compensatiton for his grasping the fish, he instead flipped onto his back, sending it flying backwards to the sandy shores, right next to the other.   
  
Arale stared vacantly at the fish for a slow moment, and turned back towards the new being. "Who are you?" she asked it, pointing out.   
  
The creature backed off while Goku stumbled back upright again. "Sorry to surprise, pi-pii," it apologized in a twitchy, high-pitched voice. "But I just couldn't let you throw away food like that, pi-pii-pi-pii."   
  
Arale walked over to the recovered Goku and put her finger to her temple. "Hoyo?"   
  
Both of them took a second, closer look at this new character. It appeared to be a medium sized dolphin, with shining gray skin covering its sleek frame and sharp, cutting fins protruding outwards in the obvious places. It featured beady black eyes, a large bill, and a curiously shaped mouth permanently transfixed in a smile. However, by the way it carried itself, it did not seem to be very cheerful. Even Arale could tell this.   
  
"Forgive me for my intrusion, pi-pii," the dolphin begun, bowing in an odd imitation of civility. "But I am a very hungry dolphin, and it would make me ever so happy if you would let me have that fish, pi-pii, oh yes it would."   
  
Goku took this in with a doubtful frown, folding his arms. "You can eat that fish if you want it," he said, motioning to it with a thump. "But I wouldn't."   
  
The dolphin swam a bit from the boulder to get a better look at the fish. "Pi-pii, it's already spread here!" it squeaked, eyes widening with panic. "Now I'm doomed!"   
  
"What's up," the boy asked, walking over to the distrusted creature. "You in some kind of trouble?"   
  
"Oh very much so, pi-pii pi-pii!" it said, nodding its long head.   
  
Both Goku and Arale listened carefully as the dolphin started its woeful tale. "I have been stranded in this lagoon for over one month," it said, gesturing with fins. "I was traveling through the friendly seas with my fiance when we stopped by this very lagoon to take a rest drink. But them, pi-pii, a huge pouring of strange materials emptied around its entrance, blocking the way! My fiancée managed to escape, but alas, pi-pii, I did not."   
  
"That sounds pretty bad," Goku sympathized sincerely.   
  
The dolphin shook its head. "And that's not even the worse part!" it said sadly. "The horrible materials that block my way have also polluted this lagoon where I reside, pi-pii, yes it has. It mutates the fish that I eat, and it clogs the water where I sleep. I've been retreating deeper into the lagoon, trying to avoid the contamination. Because I'm afraid, pi-pii, that I'll be next, pi-pi-pii."   
  
Goku's eyes widened up, and he put his hands on his hips resolutely. "Golly, I wish there was something I c'd do to help ya,' he said slowly. "But I'm already tryin' to help Arale-chan here." He motioned to the aforementioned character, who stood blank-faced at him.   
  
The dolphin sighed. "Oh," it said hanging its head in defeat.   
  
The monkey boy saw this disappointment, and attempted to better mend the situation. "Y'know, I could come back later to help," he offered. "Maybe I could bring food and stuff. And then I could..."   
  
"Nah, let's help 'im out now."   
  
His body jolted at this statement, and he turned around to see Arale, smiling unabashedly. "But what about your glasses?" he argued, spreading apart his arms. " You wanna see again, right?"   
  
"Oh sure!" she answered easily. "But we can take a lil' time to help the dolphin dude, no big deal!"   
  
Goku kept up his astonished face for one moment more, then looked back towards the dolphin. He had a fresh smile on his face. "Well, I guess we're free after all!" he said cheerfully. "Whacha need?"   
  
"You'll really help?" it exclaimed, opening its mouth wide. "Pi-pii pi-pii! Thank you ever so much!" The dolphin jumped up and down with a real smile on its face, accidentally splashing the duo. "Thank you, thank you! Pi-pii pi-pii!"   
  
"Don't mention it," Goku waved off his gratitude with a smile. "Hey, as long as we're gonna be workin' together, tell us your name."   
  
"Me?" It raised an "eyebrow," looking surprised at the boy even asking. "I'm just your average friendly dolphin, pi-pii. Just call me Dolphin-kun, pi-pii pi-pii!"   
  
"Then let's go, Dolphin-kun!" Arale yelped, running off in a random direction. "Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..."   
  
"Pi-pii, wait!" the dolphin said, waving its fin ineffectually. "You're going the wrong way!"   
  
"HoyoooOOOHHH!!!!!" she hollered when she tumbled into the lagoon, sending up a shower of fizzling water from her heavy impact.   
  
"Uh-oh!" Goku's eyes goggled. "Hang on, I'm coming," he said as he took off towards the water and jumped in after her.   
  
As the two tried their best to resolve this diliema, Dolphin-kun lied back and flopped his flippers on the surface. "I hope this all works out," he mussed, looking up at the sky. "Pi-pii pi-pii."   
  
*****   
  
After a little while, this new trio were traveling on their way to the mouth of the lagoon, where the disaster had taken place. Dolphin-kun was leading the way, swimming along the shallow ridge beside Goku, who continued to cart Arale around on his back. They kept up a quick but unhurried pace, being careful enough to avoid the perils about them; Goku the brambles, and Dolphin-kun the reefs. Fortunately, the obstacles were starting to dwindle, leaving them a clearer path for them to navigate. Unfortunately, so were the plants, and the animals, and the trees as well.   
  
As they moved closer and closer to their destination, more and more they could see the effects of the dumped material. With their own eyes, Goku and Arale viewed the sagging reeds, black and brown with rot and infection. The ground they stepped on had few gifts to offer any creature; it was as lifeless as gravel. Even Dolphin-kun, who swam away from it all, could feel the contamination soaking into his skin, creating a clogged up feeling that made strokes an uncomfortable struggle.   
  
Further on they traveled, and they now started to notice a rancid odor alleviating from beyond the blackened tree. A bit unlike the stench of the outhouse, this instead reeked of rotting fruit and drenched rock, giving a very organic taste to this new wave. And yet, there was also a hint of mechanics in the mix, like red rust and perhaps just a drop of oil. Altogether, a very bad omen.   
  
"Bleah," Goku spat, contorting his face and nose. "This is stinky."   
  
"And it dosen't smell very good either," Arale agreed, pinching her nose holes shut. She turned to Dolphin-kun. "Is it much longer?" she asked.   
  
"Actually, we're here," he responded, letting a tired sigh bubble the water. "This is the place, pi-pii."   
  
Goku and Arale turned from the dolphin, and glanced further down the lagoon. They wrenched in nausiation.   
  
"Icky!" Goku declared, a scowl growing on his face.   
  
It was more than icky, at best. The entire apex of the lagoon, where it should've met the ocean, was smothered with disgusting waste. What should've have been rocks and moss was instead pig's slop, machine parts, and just about every miscellaneous piece of garbage known. There was banana peels, broken gears, rotting tangerines, rusty springs, and various other refuges from the treatment plant. Worse still, it didn't end there. Apparently someone thought transmission fluid from old automobiles would make a very good syrup, therefore it was poured all over, making the entire mixture as soggy as day-old cereal.   
  
What a bunch of crap.   
  
"What a buncha crap," Goku commented, trying to edge around the bulk of the mess.   
  
"Uncool," the girl agreed, walking with him. She took large steps to keep her feet from sticking to the sludge, but that didn't keep scraps of the stuff from sticking to her. "It's worse than the doc's lab," she commented, picking a banana peel off of her feet.   
  
"Yeah..." Goku said, shivering at the word "doc." Doctors scared him.   
  
Dolphin-kun flopped despairingly on the water. "Pi-pii, this is what I have to deal with," he said, drowning himself in self-pity.   
  
Goku looked at the dolphin, his eyes holding doubt at the dolphin's confidence. Then he looked at the trash, scanning the dam of junk from end to end. And then he smiled. "Ah, this is nuthin'!" he boasted, gripping onto his hips. "We can clear this!"   
  
"I ain't scared of no junk, either!" Arale cheered, pounding her chest with vigor.   
  
"But wait, pi-pii!" Dolphin-kun warned, swimming as close as he could without running into the garbage. "You don't know how much there is!"   
  
"Sure I do," Goku said easily. "And it's no biggie." He turned back to Arale, motioning towards the ground with his hands. "Let's get to it!" he cried, kneeling down.   
  
"Okay!" she responded, and followed suit.   
  
"Pi-pii!" But the two were no longer listening, already busy in their task of digging up the dam. They clawed away at the mounds of junk cluttering up the lagoon's enterance, throwing it back behind them at a fast pace. A VERY fast pace.   
  
{FIP!} {FIP!} {FIP!} Their arms left messy blurs behind them as they flung various odds and ends into a pile behind them. Both of them worked their muscles to the limit, achieving a rythum touched only by gods. In no time at all, they had dwindled the trash mound in front of them to half its size. And it didn't look like they'd slow down.   
  
(They're doing pretty well,) Dolphin-kun thought to himself, looking off into space. (It 's too bad they'll all be smothered.)   
  
{SHOOMP!} All at once, a massive wave of trash launched itself from an unknown orifice, shooting off viciously towards the lagoon. Goku and Arale gave this phenomenon a look of blankness shortly before they were engulfed underneath its spreading blanket. The garbage covered them up to the tips of their noses, allowing only their wide eyes to view the sight: that the amount of cleanup duty was not only been rekindled, but had effectively doubled.   
  
"What th' heck?" Goku cursed, trying to push himself up from the trash. "It's all crapped up again!"   
  
"Pi-pii, I tried to tell you," the dolphin sighed, moving closer. "Every time a little bit of the blockade is removed, another load appears to take its place." He shook his head sadly. "I should've known this wouldn't work," he moaned, resting his bill against the water's surface.   
  
"But that's dumb," Arale protested, yanking her leg out from the structure of waste. "The crap's gotta be comin' from somewhere. That's the way crap works!"   
  
"You're right," Dolphin-kun nodded, pointing his flipper westward. "Pi-pii, there."   
  
Goku and Arale both stared in the general direction he referred to. For a while, all they could see was just more crud, piling up in little bumps here and there. Soon, though, their eyes picked out an object that managed to distinguish itself from the rest. Although much of it was covered in trash, it seemed to have a cylindrical structure, crafted of dull steel with a opening in the center. And further on, the hole led deep through a hollow waterway, which stretched off into darkness that ended who knows where.   
  
"It's a pipe!" Goku called out the obvious, eyes wide with misplaced surprise. "Wonder where it leads?"   
  
"We'll find out in Part 2, pi-pii pi-pii," the dolphin responded, looking down at the asterisks below this sentence.   
  
*****   
  
Goku: "Part 2 will be comin' soon."   
  
Arale: "Don't go bye-cha!"


	6. Tale 3, Part 2

Jan-ken PUNCH!  
  
By Reid M. Haynes  
  
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies, as well as all characters within. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.   
  
Legend:   
( ) Denotes thoughts.   
{ } Denotes sound effects.  
  
Tale 3: Let's Help Our Dolphin Friends! Part 2   
  
*****   
  
Indeed, the destination of the pipe was noteworthy enough to deserve separation from the previous section. Though the contents weren't much, it had the curious habit of never seeming to end, as many such pipes do. Underneath the garbage it roamed, forcing its way into the clods of dirt and decay that surrounded the dam area. It kept its path hidden underground, as not to be easily detected by any who would inhibit its travel. A good thing too, for the pipe's purpose was very important, and therefore best kept confidential.   
  
Moving steadily, the trash fell downwards as the pipe moved upwards, both navigating in complete darkness. The trash continued to trudge through the pipe, exported from its mysterious source, and the pipe continued a steady path that went further and further away from the trash heap, moving slowly into an arc. Further and further away from the junk-heap it moved, the dirt getting coarser and coarser...   
  
And soon, the pipe moved through a large concrete structure, continuing only a little bit further before finally ending, the source reached at last.   
  
Beyond the pipe's reach lie an extensive waste facility, stinking with all the horrid sensations of the lagoon's dire pits. Composed of steel and concrete, it interlapped in an elaborate design of pipes, pathways, and chemical store-tanks holding vast amounts of cleanants. Various nozzles and valves controlled all the action and, up at the supervisor's box, a large central switch operated the heart of the center: a large conveyor belt moved an extensive line of rancid material forward and out through the large pipe that went to the lagoon.   
  
"How boring," a voice spoke into the echoing domain. "Why must I be restricted to such a monotonous task?"   
  
Colonel Violet monitored the scene lazily from one of the many scaffolds overlooking the waste center, her eyes going over it with an emotionless roll. Her close cropped hair, colored her namesake, was slightly mussed, and her pretty face bore the pallor of ample boredom. She held herself with some dignity at her feeble surroundings, yet her attire carried the same blandness as everything else in this building, save for the garbage itself. Which, quite frankly, was no real condolence.   
  
Resting her forearms on the handrails, Violet gave a long tired sigh. She was supposed to be a powerful official of the Red Ribbon Army, yet she was restricted to the most degrading of jobs, just because she was a woman. In truth, her sex had always caused trouble for her in gaining rank, thanks to General Blue and his aversion to the fairer sex. But even after he had been dealt the red tongue of fate, she still managed to snag grunt work like she was currently doing: trash duty for surplus waste. What a miserable fate.   
  
And, shamefully enough, it was getting more miserable as every day passed. Recently, Red Ribbon had gotten onto a robotics kick, and kept much of their factories pumping out mechs for the army's use. Trouble was that this new wave of electronics was being built with a increasingly odd set of parts, much of which left byproducts to be cleaned up. Which, of course, was given to her to take care of. The woman.   
  
But eventually, she'd have her day. Violet clenched her fists in determination. Somehow, she'd find her way out of this hellhole, then she'd show all those pigs just what a woman could really do. She snickered, entertaining herself with her own ambitious schemes. (I wonder how the Violet Ribbon Army would sound?)  
  
In the meantime, though, she would just have to stay here and wait it out. And find something to do in this pit.   
  
Lifting her arms up, Violet slowly paced down the path to the supervisor's box, taking every step as slowly as possible. Her eyes lazily wandered about the facilities as she turned the knob and pushed open the door. Everything appeared to be in working order. All the tanks were pumping fluid at their proper paces, and the conveyors were all moving at the correct speed. So with a light heart, she settled down into the leather swivel chair that was her one comfort around, and lied back.   
  
She had almost drifted off when {BUZZ!} a small signal jolted her from peaceful slumber. "What the...?" Violet crawled out of her awkward sitting position and headed over to the com link. "Violet here," she said, after clicking it on. "What's the problem?"   
  
All that came out of the speaker was static, for a moment. Soon though, the crackles began to part and form into what roughly resembled a human voice. "...got a small situation," it said, as soon as it became understandable. "We need your judgement."   
  
"Huh?" Violet scowled at the barely audible voice. "What situation? Speak up. I can barely understand you." (Damn these antiquated intercoms.) she thought bitterly to herself.   
  
"Just watch the video feed, ma'am," the soldier instructed.   
  
"What?" But she had no further time for questions, for soon the small monitor flickered on, delivering an image of the junkyard one-kilometer away.   
  
The colonel turned to regard the feed for a moment, and raised an eyebrow. Out on the dam were two children, probably around twelve to thirteen, digging away at the garbage cluttering the area. Violet wasn't sure, but she thought she could see a dolphin floating to the fringes of the mess.   
  
Interlopers.   
  
"Ma'am, they might expose our operations," the RR soldier said through the com link. "I propose we eliminate them quickly."   
  
Violet stared at the image a moment more, and then smiled deviously. "No," she hissed through her teeth. "Let's have a little fun with them first."   
  
"Ma'am?" he asked, a trace of trepidation in his voice.   
  
"Relax, private," she reprimanded, easing over to a large power switch. "They won't last too long, Besides," Her hand grasped the handle. "I've been bored for way too long."   
  
Then she pulled it down.   
  
*****   
  
The switch's main purpose was to reroute the energy current feeding the conveyor belts, in case of a short. However, this power could also be fed straight into the garbage itself, giving it a fierce, electric charge. Traveling between each trash cluster, the charge would eventually transfer itself into the pipe, which would magnify its power significantly, due to the amount of metal making up its composition. With this aiding it, it would move through the rest of the pipe with ease, making its way to the junkyard in about ten seconds. Everything there would receive a burst before the energy subsided and fizzled away.   
  
And if any of the garbage was radioactive...   
  
*****   
  
"Darn it!" Goku cried out, his head popping out from the masses of junk. "That's the fifth time!"   
  
"I already said, pi-pii," Dolphin-kun reprimanded, going underwater to shake off some excess trash. "You can't clean it up that way."   
  
"But we gotta keep tryin'," Arale piped up, pulling a six-pac ring off her head. "I'm sure it'll clear up after the twenty-seventh time."   
  
Although they were fifteen minutes into their task, the group had gained little ground on the monstrous mountain that they sought to break down. Goku and Arale worked at an tireless pace, yet their incredible speed couldn't keep up with the waterfall of waste that poured out, faucet-like, from the pipe. Still, both continued to dig away at the junkyard, never losing their ever-present optimism, despite Dolphin-kun's negative attitude. Despite Dolphin-kun's being right.   
  
"I think we c'n clear a little bit from over here," Goku said, walking over to a small hump in the pile, then crouching down to work away at it. {Fip!}{Fip}{Fip!} he continued to throw the garbage out of the way, Arale soon joining him in his efforts. {Fip!}{Fip!}{Fip!}{Fip}{Fip!} Their efforts were almost synchronized as they continued to remove as much of the dam as they possibly could, and they showed no intention of slowing down. That is, until...   
  
"Help..."   
  
"What the..." the boy halted his progress for a moment, his eyes reaching through the trash. "Hey...I think someone's trapped down there!" he called out, turning to Arale.   
  
"Then let's dig'im out!" she resolved, pointing up to the sky.   
  
{Fipfipfipfipfip!} The two worked double speed at the pile, cutting its size in half after about five seconds. They kept their ears sensitive to noise, trying to make out the identity of the mysterious captive.   
  
"Que-que, please help," Keeping up the process, the pile had soon decreased to about a third of its former size. Yet the pleas continued to haunt them from beyond the depths, so they continued at it as fast as ever. {Fipfipfipfipfip!}   
  
They clawed away at the dam for another three seconds.   
  
"Got it!"   
  
And, finally, they hit paydirt.   
  
"Uhh..." Uncovered at last from the rubbage, the long face of a dolphin poked out of the trash. Like Dolphin-kun, it boasted silvery skin and upturned facial features; however, this new creature has a slight feminine touch on its eyes nose. But what really distinguished it from the former was a cute, red bow on the side of its temple, an ornament that wasn't taken lightly.  
  
"Dolphin-chan!" the male dolphin cried out, swimming up to where his mate was trapped. "What are you doing here, pi-pii?"   
  
She upturned her head as far as she could and, upon identifying him, gave a weak smile. "Hello, que-que, my love," Dolphin-chan croaked, a grimace leaking through her serenity. "It looks like...I won't be moving for awhile." The female dolphin motioned to her encased body, lowering her head in resignation.   
  
"Why're you under all that stuff?" Arale asked, walking over to the two dolphins. "Were you playin' hide 'n' seek, and got stuck in your hidin' place?"   
  
Dolphin-chan shook her head no, and then raised it up to look at the group. "I was trying to reach Dolphin-kun, que-que, after we had gotten separated," she stated. "But when I tried to jump over the dam, a wave of garbage struck me out of the air, completely covering my tail fin." She sighed. "I haven't eaten since yesterday."   
  
"Pi-pii, you idiot," Dolphin-kun admonished, glaring at her. "What were you thinking, trying to jump all this?"   
  
"But I had to reach you, que-que!" she exclaimed, turning to meet his eyes. "With you being stuck in this lagoon, I didn't know how you were doing!" She turned away in embarrassment. "I was worried..."   
  
"Dolphin-chan..." The other was very moved by this display of emotion, and moved closer to lay a fin on top of hers.   
  
"Enough with th' mushy stuff!" Goku suddenly blurted out, clenching his fists. "All this talkin' ain't gettin' you guys outta here, so let's get back to it!"   
  
He knelt down on top of the trash heap, and Arale, who had spaced out, soon followed suit. They wrenched their hands into claws, getting ready to dig...but before they could get their hands in the dough, they were given a massive shock.   
  
Literally, of course.   
  
{BZZZIT!}   
  
"DahdahdahdaHDAH...!!!" The monkey boy's hair flayed off in twenty different angles, about three more directions than normal for him, as about seventeen volts of electricity ran its course through his body. Orange shreds of gi fell off his form, and his belt grew loose around the middle. His tail had flared like a feather duster, his eyes grew wide and aware, and his mouth opened up in a constant, garbled yell, closing only when he toppled over and {WHUMP!} fell face first into an old cream cheese packet.   
  
"Ugh..." Gradually, Goku found the remaining ounces of his strength, and used them to slowly bumbled back upright. Wobbling to and fro, he tried his best to regain some sort of balance sense. Once he had achieved some sort of success, he peered wearily over at the rest of his group. "Is everyone okay."   
  
Dolphin-kun's eyes had transmogrified into indefinite, anime-style swirly things, and he had rolled off onto his site, floating senselessly against the water. Dolphin-chan was worse, as the blast had knocked her completely unconscious, due to her already weak state. And Arale...well...Arale just kind of stood there, wide eyed and acting like she wasn't effected in the least by the wave of electricity.   
  
"Heh heh, that was cool..." she babbled incoherently, a small smile forming onto her face. Then {WHUMP!} she proceeded to fall flat onto her face, her hat toppling off her head and onto the trash below.   
  
Goku made as if to help her, but was stopped in his tracks by strange phenomenon. A very strange phenomenon. All around him, the garbage was vibrating, holding onto the energy it had absorbed from the shock. Blue streaks of lighting zigzagged over the tires, cartons, and metal pieces, sending off white flashes that he had to shield his eyes from. The energy kept fizzling, actually seeming to grow within the trash. Its charge seemed everlasting and all encompassing as it began, slowly, to rise off the ground.   
  
"Whoa..." Goku said, in awe.   
  
"Hoyo..." Arale whispered.   
  
The trash continued to display odd reactions to the high voltage ingrained within it. Stranger still, its electric charge had a magnetism effect on each piece, and it actually seemed to be forming into something.   
  
No, it WAS forming into something. Goku couldn't mistake the construction of legs out of some of the smaller segments. Neither did he miss the larger pieces compact above them, forming a torso and gut. The trash was forming into a rough, humanoid shape, going even as far as to create feet and hands, though they bore no digits. This was happening all over the trash dam, identical creatures slowly staggering upright, like pitiful marionettes in the control of an incompetent puppet master.   
  
And when the electricity finally subsided, five mannequins shaped entirely out of garbage faced the group, their arms outstretched in front of them, and slowly moving in.   
  
"Cool, cool, cool!" Arale cheered, throwing her hands above. "Just like in 'Night of the Trash Zombies!'" Then, her face snapped to a inquisitive look. "But everyone died in that show..." She blinking a few times, her mouth open just a notch. "Hoyoyo..."   
  
"Well I won't!" Goku growled, ready for a challenge. "No way!" His hand sharply flicked to the red pole on his back, while his other made a fist at the ghoulish "Trash Zombies." Training his eyes on these instant villains, he started to pull his weapon out of his sheath, raising it horizontally over his head. His eyes grew distant as he concentrated his power. Then {GYUUU!!!} the pole stretched out to quarterstaff length, swinging out until it was clutched by the boy's other hand, directing it into battle position. "Come get some!" he called out, waving Nyoibo tantalizing in front.   
  
They were too happy to comply.   
  
The first Trash Zombie went head on for Goku, preparing for a low tackle. So he quickly skipped to the side, twirled to his left, and {BWAK!} conked his enemy just as it slid past. Peering over his shoulder, he found that two more were creeping closer to attack. These two he charged right away, clutching his stick like a bat and {DNNG!}   
knocking them flat with a single swing.   
  
He glanced left and right, looking for the remaining two zombies, only to find {NMMM!} one of them had locked his arms from behind. "Errgh...!" He struggled against the half nelson, grabbing onto his arm and forcing it upwards. When he finally managed to free his head, he swooped underneath its hold, cocked Nyoibo forward, and {THUD!} sunk it deep into its "gut."   
  
Before the creature had completely fallen, Goku shot up into the air towards the one remaining problem, who was starting to back away. Too late, though, for he had already reached an apex in the air, and was proceeding to fall straight for the zombie. He took a brief moment to gather strength in his arms, then "HAAHH!" he sent the garbage man flying backwards and into the pile, exploding into a burst of paper machete that soon mixed in with all the other garbage out there.   
  
"Heh heh!" Goku chuckled, brandishing his Nyoibo with two fingers. "That's that!"   
  
{krackle, krackle...}   
  
"Huh...?" he murmured, catching the stick in mid-spin. His head turned to the direction of the sound, searching for anything unusual.   
  
When he caught sight of it, his jaw went slack. "What the...!?"   
  
Through the cans, plates, and car parts, electrical charges were once again coursing between them, acting and reacting within their boundaries. Every bolt gave its target a bit more energy and a bit more mobility, as they once again began to levitate with no restraints. They flew in seeming random directions, glowing with lighting and colliding into each other. Sparks shot out from the clashing pieces, shocks jolted from every angle, and soon...   
  
{BZZZIT!!!}   
  
...all five Trash Zombies were back on their feet, looking fresher than ever, and ready to go "Round #2."   
  
Goku's grip on the staff wavered, sending enough vibrations through to trip it from his hands and onto the junk dam. "No way..." he said, ignoring the fallen Nyoibo. "No...no way...!"   
  
He really should've held onto his pole.   
  
{DONK!} was the sound heard as the zombie's fist met with Goku's face. "Agh!" He knelt down, holding his head in his hand, which set him up perfectly for a kick to the stomach. {PWAK!] He was knocked aside by a slap. {GOMP} A knee hit him straight on the forehead. {WAK!} {THUD} {DOM!} Then...   
  
"Rrraah!" he lashed out with an uppercut, throwing two of the Trash Zombies off him. With a vicious leap, Goku leapt onto his opponents, throwing a flurry of rapid kicks and punches. Furiously he cried, letting loose all of his moves onto his enemies. {Fmm!}{Fmm!}{Fmm!}{Fmm!}   
  
Yet still, no matter how much he fought, the zombies gave as good as they got, and kept coming back for more. Whenever Goku got a little bit of ground on his opponents, an electric pulse would reenergize the monsters like a permanent pick-me-up. Though Goku was far from a dead battery, he still had quite a time trying to keep them all at bay, and it looked like he would be at it for some time yet.   
  
Dolphin-kun watched this apparent stalemate, staying just beyond the sidelines. "Pii-pi, I wish I could help him out," he said regretfully. "But I don't have the capabilities." He turned to Arale. "Is there anything you can do Arale...?" His sentence trailed off as he saw she was not listening to him. "Arale?"   
  
The nearsighted girl was squinting her eyes at the large pipe from where the garbage was disposed from. Her normally wide eyes were now examining far into the depths, as if she could somehow infer its mystery origin. With a hand on her temple, she contemplated this above all else, making it top priority. Therefore, she was missing most of the action between Goku and the Trash Zombies, and of course Dolphin-kun's inquiries.   
  
"Pi-pii, what's going on?" the aquatic one asked, raising his voice to alert the girl to his presence. "Is there something about that pipe that can help us?"   
  
"I d'know," Arale said vacantly, staring still ahead. "But I think all the bad, flashy stuff is comin' from there." She moved her head from side to side, deciding upon what to do about this revelation, then finally came to a consensus. "I'm gonna blow it up."   
  
"You're going to what..." Dolphin-kun eased back away from her, a little bit nervous about the seaming senselessness of her statements. (The poor girl's had a little too much excitement for one day,} he regarded within his own head.   
  
But Arale didn't seem to think so.   
  
Ignoring the confusion of the dolphin, she spread her feet apart and braced her knees a fraction. In a clenched fist poise, Arale made a face of intense concentration, energies in her body surging to every digit. As her muscles strained, a faint aura was radiated as she gave her efforts to enhancing her power. Her mind was soaring, her spirit was burning. "Hmmmmm...!"   
  
After that, a golden, swirling bubble rippled around the girl, giving off a ring of energy that traveled along the ground. Sort of like a Super Saiyan, 'cept cooler.   
  
Dolphin-kin could do nothing more than murmur incoherent nonsense. "Pi-pii...pi-iiiii...!"   
  
Arale continued to increase her aura, waves of saffron scorching the garbage around her. Like a popcorn popper, little sparks escaped from her orb, crackling into the oxidized atmosphere. Yet, she still held in the bulk of her power seemingly waiting for right moment.   
  
Goku and the zombies looked up at the fireworks display, ceasing their fighting for a second. "Wha..." the boy said, his eyes growing wider and wider. (That energy, it's almost like the Kamehame-ha...)   
  
She kept the energy moving in a rough orbit, adding little boosts of power periodically. The globe of energy kept growing bigger and bigger, lighting up the junkyard around it. With incredible dramatics amazing the spectators, the girl took a large breath, puffing up her cheeks as the moment grew closer and closer. "Nnnnnn..."   
  
Then, the moment came...   
  
"N'CHAAA!!!!" An incredible beam of sunshine poured out of Arale's mouth, sparkling with electric blue lightning as it snaked deep inside the large pipe, brightening its dark confines into day.   
  
*****   
  
"Heh heh," the woman chuckled, resting her hand on the lever. "Now this is war!" Popping a few Red Hots into her mouth, she leaned back in her chair, feeling the hot taste while watching the cool action. "Too bad this can't happen all the time."   
  
For the past five minutes, Violet had been watching the monitor as one would watch an episode of DBZ, sucking up as much action as her pupils could stomach. Watching the little kid take on the electrified monsters was a blast, due especially to that he was so good. And every time he managed to gain a little ground, she just recharged the trash again, bringing them all back like knew. Although, she had to admit, it did get a little boring sometimes. She wished a real blast would enter this boring site.   
  
"N'CHAAA!"   
  
"Wha..." She started at the faint echo, moving out of the seat. "Who's there..." Violet moved outside to the walkway, looking downwards as the large pipe.   
  
Just in time to see a burst of gold extend from the open end.   
  
"What on earrrTTTHHH...!"   
  
{ZZZMMMMM!!!}   
  
*****   
  
{RrrmmmMMM!!!} A huge shock-wave radiated from beyond the junkyard, washing over the many pieces of trash. Loose papers fluttered wayward, and tiny metal shrapnel embedded itself into the piles, which were also shaking with the sudden impact. The entire dam was quaking, every object around toppling about. {MMmmmmmmm....} And just as soon as it came, it was gone, zooming away to shake some other landscape.   
  
With his face once again in the trash, Goku wasted no time in getting to his feet. Once upright, he instant scanned the area for his zombies, finding them over next to one of the larger piles. Then he did a double take. The zombies WERE the larger pile, reverted back to the very trash they had been created from. The boy looked for the culprit of this act, and found her standing wide eyed in front of the pipe. Looking as innocent as one could possibly be.   
  
"Hiii-cup!" Arale chirped, covering her mouth with her hand.  
  
Instantly, Goku leaped twenty feet to where his strange friend stood. "Wha...what th' heck WAS that?" he gasped out, clutching her shoulders harshly.   
  
"Um...the 'N'cha Cannon?'" she tried, seemingly confused as to why he would even bother asked such a question.   
  
"Whoa..." He took a step back from her, almost frightened. "That's like the hello from Hell!"   
  
"Ain't it somethin'?" Arale boasted, grinning proudly.   
  
"But it's not enough," Goku and Arale ceased their chatter at the melancholy voice and turned around, to be greeted by a very sobering sight: Dolphin-kun, staring sadly at an inert Dolphin-chan. "The last electric charge took everything out of her," he moaned, looking down at her body. "She...pi-pii...she won't wake up...pi-pii..." Tears came to his bulbous eyes, dripping over his face and melding with the slick film covering him.   
  
"After all we went through..." Goku hit his fist against his thigh, handling his sadness the only way he knew how. Darn it, this stinks!"   
  
Arale just stared at the ground, not really knowing what to say.   
  
Then, all at once, her mourning face flashed into her trademark grin. "Hey, I know!" she said, looking over at Dolphin-kun. "I'll make 'er all better!"   
  
"How?" he asked, not amused by her jubilant attitude in the slightest.   
  
"Well, whenever i freeze up..." she started, then reached back and pulled out a small, sports bottle. "I use 'Robobitan A!'" With the coveted nutrient drink in hand, Arale knelt down to Dolphin-chan, taking her beak with her hand. Pushing her mouth gently upwards, she carefully positioned the "Robobitan A" between the dolphin's lips, and quickly squeezed a sizely amount into her. After that was done, the girl backed away from her patient and waited anxiously for the results.   
  
One second passed.   
  
Then two.   
  
Three, four...   
  
And right after the fifth second passed, Dolphin-chan's head gradually stared to rise. For several tension filled moments, the trio watched as she groaned and moaned to lucidity, shaking out various kinks. Then, she turned to Dolphin-kun, looking at him strangely. "Que-que, why's everybody looking at me like that?" she asked, blinking groggily.   
  
"DOLPHIN-CHAN!!!" Taking a flying leap, Dolphin-kun dove straight onto his fiancée, enveloping her with his fins as best he could. "You're alive, pi-pii! Thank goodness, pi-pii! pi-pii!"   
  
"Oww...!" She grimaced with the heavy weight upon her. "Not so hard, Dolphin-kun," she protested, trying to wiggle away from him. "Que-que, I just got up."   
  
"Yay!" Arale yelped happily, jumping up in the air.   
  
"Heh, heh!" Goku chuckled, folding his arms in satisfaction.   
  
Dolphin-kun turned towards the two, and swam up from off Dolphin-chan. His eyes were shining, and his mouth was turned into a REAL smile. "Pi-pii, thank you so much!" he cried, lowering his head in a mock bow. "You have saved both me and my fiancée. How may I repay you?"   
  
Goku put his hand on his chin, seeming to contemplate this. A smile grew on his face. "Well, there is this one thing..."   
  
*****   
  
{KSSSSSS!!!} The ocean's carpet surface split into shears as the two creatures skimmed to the horizon. Fizzing water drips speckled the air when they jumped and skipped across the blue prairie. Above them, cumulous clouds told of a coming rain to a nearby area, yet seemed serene in their white tranquility. And all around, the world was clean and beautiful, untouched by all those who would exploit its natural bounties.   
  
"Wheeee!!!" Arale screeched, clutching onto Dolphin-kun's dorsal fin. "This is so cool!"   
  
"Yeah!" Goku smiled at her from the back of Dolphin-chan, waving his half-eaten fish at her. "And you even get to eat on the trip too!" He took another bite, loosing himself in all that salty goodness.   
  
Upon discovering the "N'cha Cannon's" destructive capabilities, it had been easy to clear out all of the trash that had clogged the lagoon. Once the ocean path was open, the dolphin lovers had offered to give our heroes a lift towards the nearest city, which, it turned out, was not far from where they were at all.   
  
"Pi-pii, don't grab on so hard," Dolphin-kun snapped, glaring at Arale.   
  
"Hoyo?" she responded, acting like she didn't know what he was talking about.   
  
"Cut it out, que-que," Dolphin-chan butted in, staring straight ahead at the horizon. "We're almost there!" She pointed a fin forward. "Look!"   
  
"Huh...oh!" Goku's eyes suddenly burst into saucers. "That's IT! The Western Capital!"   
  
Just within eyesight, there stood among the clouds an amazing, silhouette of a city, shining with the bright sun behind it. Sporting round, bubble-like buildings, the entire structure was an odd occurrence of random and symmetrical unity, somehow supporting an incredible array of peoples and places. And although you couldn't really tell how large the city actually was, the boy knew better. Much better.   
  
"So this is the city?" Arale asked, continuing to squeeze on Dolphin-kun, much to his irritance.   
  
"Right!" Goku said, winking at her. "I'd bet your glass things can be found here!"   
  
"Then let's go!" she exclaimed, urging her steed forward.   
  
"Pi-pii, please don't do that," the dolphin whined, a sweatdrop lightly gracing his head.   
  
With this happening, Goku and Arale zoomed towards the great city, leaving a brilliant, aqua streak to burn into the water, mere tire tracks to the rugged explorers that passed by...   
  
*****   
  
Note: I'll be halting chapter uploads on "Jan-ken PUNCH!" for awhile, until the Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump episode airs on Cartoon Network. I'm doing this because it will give a chance for readers to become more familiar with Arale, and get better response.   
  
If you want to see later chapter of my story, just go it www.angelfire.com/anime3/gokuarale/janken.html. I will continue to update regularly there.   
  
Now, onto the teaser. ^_^   
  
*****   
  
Arale: "N'cha! In the next chapter, we finally reach that 'Western Capital' place, and we get t' searchin' for some unbroke glasses pretty quick!"   
  
Goku: "The city's kinda a weird place, though, so we might run into some trouble 'n' stuff."   
  
Goku/Arale: (with arms around each other) "All this and more, in the next exciting chapter of 'Jan-ken PUNCH!'"   
  
RisanF: "Until next time, ja ne! ^_^" 


	7. Tale 4, Part 1

Jan-ken PUNCH!   
  
By Reid M. Haynes   
  
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies, as well as all characters within. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.   
  
Legend:   
( ) Denotes thought.   
{ } Denotes sound effects.   
\ / Denotes written text.  
  
Tale 4: The City With Sight Within! Part 1   
  
*****   
  
A Capsule Car rides noisily through,   
It's cloud of smog a gift for you...   
  
{Vroom!} the vehicle left a huge trail of exhaust, choking both the lungs and the eyes of daring pedestrians walking their way. After the rancid air has subsided, there could be seen many more cars, zooming around maniacally throughout the many streets that interconnected the bustling metropolis.   
  
Surely, the Western Capital was a cultural landmark, sporting huge domes of every size, some on stilts and others ground-bound. All sorts of creatures traveled the highways and walkways that crisscrossed between, everyone from furries to roadies. Most notably a weird monkey-tailed boy and a nearsighted purple haired girl.   
  
"Whoa..." Arale held down her hat as a gust of wind threatened to knock it off. "Those hovery things go really fast."   
  
"Hold your nose, Arale-chan," Goku suggested, following his own example. "They also spit smelly, egg-rot stuff from their butts, and its real bad."   
  
But she, once again, was no longer listening, instead inching closer to the edge of the sidewalk. She peered as far as she could into the chaotic traffic, and her eyes widened in awe. "Hoyo..." As far as her head could turn, Arale could see an infinite wave of vehicles, red hotrods and green tow-trucks, zooming every direction allotted by the pathways that stretched far between the buildings. Like they were intertwined in some sort of strange, exotic game.   
  
"Yay, a game!" the girl called out, raising her hands in the air. "I'm gonna play too!" She took off for the street.   
  
"Wait!" Goku called out, reaching out in vain.   
  
Despite his warning, Arale, blind as she was, continued to dash off into the street, right in the middle of the intersection. Intent on making new friends, she ran up to each of the cars, trying to ask them what game they were playing. But alas, her attempts only disturbed the busy players, too caught up in their business to pay attention to the friendly girl. In fact, they were quite unnerved.   
  
"Hey, what the hell are you doing, you idiot?" A man hollered out of his sports coupe, shaking his fist at the minute child. "Get out of the damn road!"   
  
"Hoyo?" Arale raised her eyebrows. "But you're in the road, too," she reasoned, confused to why this man was so angry. "So why can't I play your game?"   
  
"Didn't you hear him?" Arale turned her head to view another angry person: a middle aged woman with curly, dyed hair. "Stop blocking the way, moron!"   
  
"Yeah!" agreed a motorcycle mounter, looking down at her with scorn.   
  
Before the situation could get any worse, Goku stepped into the road and grabbed her arm. "We probably should go," he said softly, dragging Arale back onto the sidewalk and away from the disgruntled mob, who were resuming their hurried path to wherever they were going.   
  
After they were clear from the disorder, Arale turned to the boy again. "I guess it must've been a private game," she reasoned, her voice a combination of realization and disappointment.   
  
"Don't let it getcha down," Goku replied back to her, a trace of disapproval in his voice. "City people are kinda uptight about things."   
  
The two reached the next crossing and turned right with the sidewalk, moving further into the Western Capital. As they moved down the street, both took small glances at the various buildings adorning either side. Many different stops and shops stood proudly by, crowds of people waiting to purchase their goods. There were souvenir stands, department stores, ice cream stops, and pet shops. (the third getting the most attention from our duo)   
  
"Oooh, ice cream!" Arale cheered, moving over to the ice cream stop. "Oooh, action figures!" Arale peeped, dashing to the figuring stall. "Strobe lights!" "Plungers!" "Ooooooh!"   
  
"Hold up!" Goku cautioned, tightening his grip on her wrist. "We don't got zenny!"   
  
"'Kenny?'" Arale queried, shifting her eyes towards him.   
  
"Yeah," he growled, so caught up in his own frustration that he missed her mistake. "'Seems like when you're here, y' need money need money for just about everything."   
  
"Hoyo!" The girl was aghast. "They don't letcha do anything fun!" Then, a thought came to her, and she clutched her chin. "I wonder if that's why those people wouldn't let me play their game? 'Cause I didn't have money...?"   
  
"Maybe," Goku lowered his eyes. "But don't worry!" he looked up with a grin, giving Arale's arm a squeeze. "We can have fun without money!"   
  
She gave him an odd look for a moment, then returned his smile. "Yup!"   
  
Suddenly, her face lit up with knowledge recalled. "Oh, I forgot!" she said, shifting her gaze into space. "I was supposed t' get somethin'!"   
  
"Hoyo?" Goku asked, unconsciously adopting his friend's verbalism.   
  
"Uh huh, that's the reason why I'm all the way out here," Arale explained. "See, the doc told me t' go out and find this thing for him. But it wasn't in Penguin Village, so I hadda go away. And that's when I smashed inta you, yes I did!"   
  
"Really?" The boy let go of her arm, and examined her. "What were ya tryin' t' find?"   
  
"I d'know," Arale said.   
  
{WHUMP!} Goku facefaulted.   
  
"I mean, I kinda forgot," she restated, as the chibi-martial artist flattened on the ground. "With all this weird stuff happenin', y'know."   
  
"Well," Goku began tiredly, stumbling slowly back up to their feet. "We c'n worry about that some other time. Right now, we gotta find your glass thingies."   
  
"Okie dokie," Arale responded, looking back towards the streets ahead. He then reinstated his grip on her arm, taking her on a brisk pace down the Western Capital. And the two began the arduous task of obtaining some new glasses.   
  
Slowly walking the streets, Goku did his best to pick out any object that looked like eyeglasses, while keeping his charge straight. He checked on the sidewalk, the trashcans, and the awnings of roofs for the desired object. However, he made no attempt to ask any of the people around him where such a thing could be found. After all, the thing was so insifnifigent looking, one would probably be lying around anywhere.   
  
And if it wasn't, why would they know?   
  
He continued trying his best to search for glasses, glancing about every which way. Arale, though, was less helpful, as she was relying on Goku just to find her way around. Leaving the bulk of the work up to him, that is, until...   
  
"Hey, hey!" she cheered, pointing up below a building's awning. "Lookie lookie!"   
  
"Wha...oh!" Goku widened his eyes at the referred object. Beyond Arale's fingertips stood a rundown, smallish structure that was dwarfed by many of its brothers. Like all the other buildings, it bore a roundish, annular shape, with white stripes cutting along its hull. However, broken windows and tavern-style swing doors suggested that it was of less reputability than most.   
  
But nothing spelled out the establishment more than the small, wooden sign hanging right above the doorframe.  
  
\GLASSES!/   
  
"Gee, this must be the place," he said cautiously, sizing up the building. "Well, let's get to it!" Goku walked up to the front steps, taking an eager Arale along with him. With his free hand, he pushed on the double doors, sending then arcing backwards. With a casual air, he proceeded into the frame.   
  
"I can't wait 'til I c'n see!" the girl said as both Goku and her entered the building, disappearing from outside view.   
  
*****   
  
"Alright, buddy, move 'er off!" the worker called to his friend, cupping his hands over his mouth. "We gotta show this thing before the lunch drunks pile in."   
  
The man growled silently, refusing to look at his partner. (Work, work, work, that's all it ever is to him.) Instead he set upon his current task: putting up the sign to the bar. Apparently, someone thought it a good idea to smash their beers against the old sign, staining it to the point where one could hardly make out the words. In fact, if you were really nearsighted and raised in Penguin Village, you probably couldn't tell there were any words at all, other than the small part that escaped damage.   
  
Well, he'd take care of that. Putting his hands on the drenched sign, he lifted the board off its perch and tossed it behind him...making sure to "accidentally" startle his partner with the loud clack. After that was through, he readied the new sign up from under his armpit, maneuvering it carefully up to the perch. He fiddled around with it a bit, not quite knowing where the catch was that the board fit in. Then once it was found, he clicked it firmly into place, horizontally aligned and looking good as new.   
  
"You done up there?" the other called out, to which he nodded too. "Well then let's go!" he snarled. "We got three more to do this afternoon. Hurry it up!"   
  
"Yeah, yeah..." he responded sarcastically, carefully climbing down the ladder and back to the sidewalk, where his partner waited to take him to another boring job.   
  
And behind him, the new sign stood modestly below the business's awning, finally displaying its message clearly: \Taurus's Tavern: FREE REFILS FOR ALL 8 OZ GLASSES!/   
  
*****   
  
Inside the "glasses place," things seemed disturbingly different than one would expect from such a place. Instead of sterile, serene feelings, one could gather that the interior decorator never really cared what went into the atmosphere. The lighting was seedy and low, creating odd shadows where they shouldn't be. And the smell was that of vomit and alcohol, carrying scents of a hundred people's dumped lunch.   
  
Everything inside was either rough wood or waxy countertop, from the broken down tables and chairs to the stainless bar to the back. Behind the bar lay a rack of various beverages, most of them rather hard, and over to the corner, a jukebox played a slow, western tune. But what gave the scene its real attitude were the dingy bottles of sake littered the establishment, next to which soggy, drunken men nursed their glasses like first first-born children.   
  
"This dosen't look much like the glasses place from my town," Arale commented, squinting her eyes at the miscellaneous depressants.   
  
"Well, city glass stores must be different from the stuff in your village..." Goku argued, although he too was rather skeptical of whether he had the right place. Looking all around him, he could see none of the people them wore the things the girl had. Although, viewing their sunken eyes, he supposed they could a little help in seeing.   
  
The strange thing was, almost all of them had some sort of chip on their shoulders. Whenever Goku would look at one, he would return the stare with a venomous aftertaste, as if they were somehow intruding in on their lives. (I wonder what they could be so mad about?) the boy thought carefully to himself. (We're just trying to get some glasses...)   
  
He took a look around the place, trying to find someone who would be willing to help, and finally set upon a slightly more sober fellow behind the bar. "Hey, maybe that guy will help us!" Goku told Arale, who nodded her consent. Carefully, he took his friend over to the man, being careful not to bump into any of the guys sitting around. The funny thing was, he could almost feel the animosity from their glares, but he did his best to ignore it. They didn't seem ready to fight and, oddly enough, he had better things to do right now.   
  
Once reaching the bar, Goku let go of Arale's hand and {DWIP!} hopped up onto one of the stools. He tapped the man on the shoulder. "Hey dude."   
  
The bartender turned his head slightly to the boy, regarding him apathetically, then resumed sorting the drinks behind him.   
  
Goku was confused by this strange behavior. Usually, when he tried to get someone's attention, they usually responded in some manner, even girls. He tried again, "'Xcuse me, mister?" putting a little bit more politeness into his voice, (something he still wasn't accustomed to) but the man continued to ignore him.   
  
He motioned to poke his shoulder again, but suddenly the bartender whirled around with a cross frown. "Look, kid, if ya wanna drink, then order it," he snapped out with a snarl. "I usually don't serve brats, but you already seem to be screwed up, especially with that hair."   
  
"Well, actually..." Goku started, then reconsidered upon seeing his annoyed look deepened, he changed his statement. "Uh...just give me a milk, please," he said, giving him a nervous smile.   
  
The bartender's face became a curious smirk, then he shrugged. "Whatever floats yer boat," he said, then proceeded to pour the drink.   
  
Goku kept up his false grin for a moment more, then slumped down onto the counter, defeated. Well, that went pretty bad. Now how was he going to get those glasses? The boy lowered his head and kept his gaze down, even after the bartender slid him his milk. He just grabbed the glass and ignored it.   
  
The boy felt the cold condensation run over his mitt; sweaty, yet somehow inviting at the same time. He eased his eyes towards the drink, then sighed. (Might as well drink it.) Goku lifted the glass up to his face, and took a stiff. The aroma suggested that it was both fresh and flavorful. Satisfied, he took a sip.   
  
But before he could swallow the creamy liquid, a large {CLONK!} jolted him from his reverie. He turned his head upward, and found the intruder: a blond, muscular man, holding both a foamy beer and a foamy look on his face.   
  
"Hey, arencha a lil' young to be slurpin' the hard stuff?" he asked with a leer, clearly not caring about the answer. "Drinks like this can mess up a kid your age."   
  
"Naw, that's just milk," a dark skinned man cracked, walking up to his buddy. "He's too much of a 'boy next door' type to be curious."   
  
"So why's a lad like 'im hangin' around blarnies like us?" A third, orange haired one commented, putting a hand on Goku's shoulder. "How 'bout it?" he asked, increasing the grip. "Care t' tell us what you're doin'?"   
  
"I'm trying to find some glasses for my friend," The boy said honestly, hoping these people were trying to be friendly. They weren't.   
  
"BWAHAHAHAH!" The blondie cackled wildly, joined quickly by his friends. "That's the most doped up comment I've ever heard!"   
  
Goku remained silent, wondering if he should try laughing with them.   
  
"You said it, buster!" the black man said, missing his anxieties, or more like "not caring." "So where IS your little buddy?"   
  
"She's right here," he said matter-of-factly, motioning to the vacant area next to his stool. He then did a double take. "Arale, oh no!" Goku cried out at the absence of his charge, glancing all about for her. "She must've wandered off somewhere. I've gotta find her!"   
  
"Heh heh, looks like your girlfriend's found a new pal to play with," the blondie chuckled, folding his arms. "'Course, with handsome guys like us around, who c'n blame 'er?! Ha ha!"   
  
Goku ignored the man's jeers, though, instead quickly stepping off of the stool to search for Arale. But he was quickly cut off by the redhead. "Where d'ya think you're steppin', laddie?" the man queried, an ugly smile adorning his rosy cheeks. "Just afta we've gone and become good friends?"   
  
"Yeah, come on," the black man joined in, walking to the two. "Come stay 'n' talk for awhile."   
  
"Yeah," the blondie said, joining the others.   
  
As the three burly, drunk men moved closer and closer. Goku felt a sickening feeling clog up his stomach. He took a good look at each one. All smiling. All drinking. All out of control. His body stiffened up, and he swallowed.   
  
(I don't think these guys want to be friends...)   
  
*****   
  
"Now where are those glasses?" Arale said to herself, scanning the carpeted floor of the small room. "Over here?" She checked in a pot. "Over here?" She checked on a stool. "Hoyoyo, I can't find them anywhere!" she exclaimed, shrugging in confusion, while setting down on said stool, trying to think things out.   
  
When Goku had received the milk, she was going to ask him if he could see about getting new glasses. But then those friends of his appeared, wanting to play, so she decided to search for them on her own and not to interfere. Of course, finding them would be a lot easier with her friend's extra set of eyes. But she was sure she could find them on her own easily enough. This was a glasses store, right?   
  
Arale continued her sightless search for sight. With her hands as her only guidance, she made full use of them to search every object thoroughly, running over any object that could conceivably be glasses. Like pots, trashcans, paper weights, a glass sculpture of a banana...   
  
"Hold on a second, I gotta get somethin'." Arale jerked off the ground at the sound of a male voice. With her bad vision, she squinted at the door she came through, and spied a tall man walking in.   
  
The man moved over to the desk and opened a drawer.   
  
"What are you doing?" another voice called from outside, the bar area.   
  
Although Arale couldn't see well enough, she could've sworn that the man had cracked a grin. "Don't you see what's goin' on with the kid?" he called out, while searching through the desk. "A fight's brewin' down there, and I'm gonna get in on the action!" He pulled a few small somethings from the drawer and smiled, staring at them within his hands. "I just gotta get m' contacts."   
  
She then saw the man take some roundish things from his face, wiping them off on his sleeve. He placed the objects on the desk, then took the smaller ones and brought them closer. Pressing them into his eye sockets, blinking a few times, then, he was set.   
  
"Now we're pumped!" The man beat his fist into his palm and walked back to the door. He started to move through the frame, then stopped, as an object appeared in the corner of his vision.   
  
He turned right to Arale. "What're you doing here?" he snapped at the weird visitor. "You shouldn't be...aw, forget it." The man turned back to the open door and ran through it. "Brawlin', here I come!" His cheer rung out through the room as he left to the downstairs pub, ready for battle.   
  
And the girl just stood there, looking oddly at the escaping man. Then, she turned around to the desk. Slowly, cautiously, she creeped towards the desk. More particularly, to the objects placed onto the desk.   
  
She grabbed onto the small chair and hoisted herself up to it. Then, her hands brushed against the desk's mahogany surface, searching for it. Finally, fingers touched against them.   
  
And Arale's eyes widened with realization.   
  
The objects removed from the man's face were actually one object, connected by a small, steel band. Composed of glass lens, it featured hook-like appendages that seemed designed to hold it onto something. But any further elaboration of this paragraph is unnecessary. You know what they are, I know what they are, and Arale knows what they are. All that's necessary is to say the word.   
  
"GLASSES!!!" Arale's hands instantly flashed towards the Holy Grail of this long quest, snatching onto them as if she thirsted for them. "AlrightglassesI'vebeenlookingsolongbutnowIgotthemandtheyreperfectthey'rejustmysizeandit'scoolcoolCOOL!!!"   
  
Then they slipped from her hand and broke.   
  
No, that's cruel.   
  
Scratch that last sentence. They didn't break.   
  
"Finally, I'll be able to see!" Arale cheered, slowly bringing her new glasses to her face. She moved into position...then...   
  
Loud noise emitted from beyond the doorway. They were indistinguishable, but it sounded awfully like arguing. When listened to carefully, it could been separated into three different voices: one scratchy and rough, another low and modulated, a third with a roughly Irish sound to it..and the last sounding like a young boy, protesting rather pathetically.   
  
Arale blinked, holding the glasses in place. "Hoyo?" she burbled, looking at the door. "Goku-kun?" Slowly, she moved over to the exit, and put her hand to her ears, trying to make out the voices. Her eyes widened with curiosity. "I wonder what's goin' on down there?"   
  
What, you thought we were done? ^_^   
  
*****   
  
Goku: "Part 2 will be comin' soon."   
  
Arale: "Don't go bye-cha!" 


	8. Tale 4, Part 2

Jan-ken PUNCH!   
  
By Reid M. Haynes   
  
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies, as well as all characters within. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.   
  
Legend:   
( ) Denotes thought.   
{ } Denotes sound effects.   
[ ] Denotes song lyrics/opening monologue.   
  
Tale 4: The City With Sight Within! Part 2   
  
*****   
  
"But I'm tellin' ya, I don't wanna drink!" Goku persisted, looking pleadingly to the grungy men who harassed him. "Cancha jus' give it to someone else?"   
  
"Nonsense!" the black man leered, thrusting the bottle into his face. "Kid like you's gotta get a shot in sooner or later."   
  
"Yeah, so chuggit down," the blondie joined in, folding his arms confidently. "It's not like it's gonna kill ya."   
  
"But Grandpa said that drinkin' too much can mess up your martial arts moves." he argued, then stopped suddenly at a thought. "'Course, the ol' man did have a lot of sake in the evenings..." Goku stroked his chin thoughtfully. "But then again, he's dead now, so that dosen't really say much."   
  
"Quit wastin' our time, laddie!" the orange-haired one pushed yet another drink in his face, making an angry face. "You're drink the stuff, or we'll shove it down your throat!"   
  
Goku took a long look at his antagonist, his eyes wide. Then, his surprise slowly melted into cold anger. His hand grew stiff as he cocked his arm.   
  
"I...said...NO!" {BAP!} he then slapped the mug out of the redhead's startled grasp, sending it careening in an arc that {KKKSSH!} shattered against the alcohol stained floor, sending a hundred pieces scattering along the wood floor.   
  
"Whooo, angel boy's getting' hot!" the black man sneered, laughing at the little fireball. "You wanna go down, little man?"   
  
Goku's face remained stone as his fists curled into the Jan-ken stance. "Come on," he challenged, scooting closer to the other. "I'll show ya how t' really get smashed!"   
  
The man laughed. "Step up, bud," he sneered, flexing his fingers. "I've give you some downtown fun."   
  
The blond one moved up as well "That goes double for me! We'll show you!"   
  
The barroom combatants stared each other down, four soggy irises vs. two clear pupils. The drunks moved over the floorboards, while Goku took to the tabletop, making up for his height disadvantage. Each kept trained on the enemy, ready to jump in an attack.   
  
Goku leapt forward in a furious punch. "EEEAAAHHH...!"   
  
{GRONG!}   
  
"...hhhaAAWOOA!" and then he pitched backwards, tied down by an invisible rope, to {BLUMP!} fall onto the table top, face up to the taunting, laughing jeers of the black man and blondie.   
  
The monkey boy stared at the ceiling for a while, then next cracked his neck behind to figure out what held him back.   
  
His eyes widened.   
  
Then, they grew hazy.   
  
"BWAHAHAH!!!" the redhead hooted outrageously, crushing Goku's brown, simian-like tail for all it was worth. "Never knew ya were THAT much of a oddball. 'Course, the funnier it is for me, heh heh." He gave the appendage another squeeze, and the boy gave out a cry of pain.   
  
"N-no..." Goku moaned, trying his hardest to get away. "My t-taiilll..." Already he could feel the strength fading within him, his superhuman power reverting to that of a regular, thirteen year old boy. The sickening sensation was running through every fiber of him, overwhelming muscles, bones, and blood with a halting, weakening pulse. Weakening, weakening...   
  
"Hey, looka' this!" the blondie exclaimed, his eyes growing more sober. "When ya squeeze the freak's tail, he goes limp!"   
  
"What a peculiar phenomenon," the black man said, following with an excess beer belch.   
  
"Let's give it another go," the redhead decided and once again applied pressure to the flared up tail he held.   
  
"Nnnrrrgg...!" He made one last effort to pry the man's mitts from his person. Then, his power finally failed him, and he slumped back to the ground, his eyes glazing over with tired apathy. Leaving him completely open to whatever ideas the three, drunken men had in store for him.   
  
"And there goes the kiddie!" the redhead chucked, loosening his grip on Goku's tail. He turn over to his buddies. "What do ya say, boys? Shall we give him our special medicine?"   
  
"Yee-up!" Moving up to his friend, the blond guy approached a large bottle of cheep liquor. "Make 'em chug th' whole thing!"   
  
"Pour it down his throat!" The black man chimed, moving ever so closer with his three friends, smiling with vindictive satisfaction.   
  
"I think y' should leave 'em alone."   
  
"Huh?" All three men stopped their torture of the injured Son Goku, and looked over to the door behind them...and jerked back in shock. "What the hell...?"   
  
Just beyond the doorframe, glowing under the beam of an overhead light, stood the form of a young girl, looking to be about twelve, maybe thirteen in age. She was clothed in a gray pair of overalls, with a red golf shirt underneath, and small blue sneakers on her feet. The long hair running down her back was bright violet, even brighter due to the illumination, and a yellow, baseball cap domed the crown of her head, with tiny white wings fixated on it for flair.   
  
But most telling of this mysterious female were her eyes, completely engulfed within the lens of large glasses, enlarging shining blue irises that told of promise...and annoyance.   
  
"Well, well, well, lookie what we got here," the blondie snickered, walking mock-casually to Arale. "You have a probl'm with our little sport, hun"   
  
"I don't think Goku-kun likes that game very much," the girl observed, her fists on her hips. "You should probably play a different one."   
  
"Arale-chan..." the referred boy murmured, stretching a weak hand to his newly-spectacled friend.   
  
"Oh ho ho!" the redhead laughed suddenly, holding onto his belly with buoyant mirth. "And just how d'ya plan on makin' us, huh dearie?"   
  
Arale shrugged. "Prob'ly beatcha up,' she answered nonchalantly, her eyes wide and innocent.   
  
The three regarded this information for a moment, then burst into hooting laughter. "You?" the red one chuckled, cheeks once again glowing red. "Beat us up? That'll be the day!"   
  
The girl stared at the man for a little longer, then cocked her head to the side. (Hoyo, these guys don't seem scared,) she mussed, raising an eyebrow. (I guess they've never been to Penguin Village...)   
  
While she was pondering this, the blondie had stepped beyond the round table, walking over to her frond. He bent over slightly, meeting her eyes, and gave her guiltless love an evil smile. "So you wanna join him on the ground, girl?" he asked, not really caring about the answer. "Let's go, then."   
  
All around the bar, the two were drawing attention. Before only marginally paying attention, the barroom dwellers gave great interest to the unfolding events in front of them. Although none of them were really expecting to see much, other than the purple-haired girl getting slammed six-feet under, they did hope for a little action. Besides, being drunk wasn't really a riveting experience.   
  
So with their beers put to the side, they looked on at the girl and the blondie, the latter now raising his head to expose his chin. "I'll even give ya a free shot," he said, smiling enthusiastically. "Come on, right here. Hurry it up, now."   
  
"Okay," Arale agreed as she kicked straight up at his head.   
  
{BWAK!!!} Upon impact with the rubber toe, the blondie bolted vertically into the ceiling, where {CR-RACK!} his head embedded itself in the wood planks, sending a shower of sawdust onto the ground.   
  
Every person inside turned to where the girl had made her move.   
  
The girl didn't seem disturbed.   
  
Then, a low baritone laugh.   
  
"So," the black man snickered. "This little darling can pack a wallop." Putting a hand inside his pocket, he searched around for a bit before coming up with an object: a silver quarter. "Well, I hope you can keep it up, for our sake," He placed the coin under his thumb. And smiled. "As well as yours."   
  
{PLING!}  
  
Rolling, rolling, the quarter span through the air, moving over and out in a sailing arc. Parting through the odors and aromas of rock-hard drinks, it continued as if in slow motion, taking as much time as possible to reach its apex in the air. Once done, the coin smoothly began its descent, altering its path just enough to move it to the floor. Or, more precisely, to the small jukebox in the corner.   
  
Above the long selections of J-Pop song titles, the quarter's arc changed into a forty-five degree angle. {ZNNG!}{ZNNG}{ZNNG!} Its spiral seemed never-ending, slapping the air again and again, pushing it further to the jukebox. It eventually reached the song selection area, which curiously already had the next tune selected: B-4, "Tank!" Finally, it moved to the coin slot, slowing down the spin to fit perfectly within its slit, disappearing from view. {KACHINK!}   
  
It's amazing what you can do when you're drunk.   
  
A small series of brass hits filled the tavern, jerking Arale's gaze from the spinning quarter. With her awareness piqued, the girl glanced around her surroundings, and discovered something quite amiss.   
  
All around her, the various spectators were slowly rising from their seats, pushing by their half-empty glasses and folding their arms. Each of them carried themselves with a certain amount of macho bravado, taunting smirks on their leering faces. Inside their eyes, through all the grime, you could a tiny little spark glinting in the pupils. For they were no longer spectators any more; they were players. Ready for a good game.   
  
As the bongos were added in, some of the men began to uncover hidden weaponry from their pockets and sleeves. Knives, switchblades, it was all here, popping up into hands like in-built claws. They fiddled with their weapons eagerly, working the hilts between their fingers. Then, each of them, one by one, began to approach, pointing the blades towards Arale.   
  
[I think it's time t' blow this thing. Get everybody and their stuff t'getha...]   
  
The black man and redhead moved forward, still carrying their beers. "All right, guys," the black man growled, beating the bottle against his palm. "You know the drill."   
  
[Okay, 3, 2, 1, let's jam.]   
  
"Yeah," the red head added in, clenching his fist. "Let's smoke 'er! The two men joined the rest, and Arale steeled her muscles as the enemy moved in.   
  
The first drunkard, a short balding man, approached and made a swing for the girl's head. Yet by the time the fist reached her, {POK!} she had already grabbed his arm, altered his momentum, and {FYMM!} tossed him into the closest wall.   
  
After done with that, Arale whipped around to a taller guy, her next opponent. {VIP!}{VIP!} She stepped aside to avoid two clumsy punches, then {DOMP!} she slugged him in the stomach, doubling him over and ceasing his assault.   
  
Three more aggressors appeared, rushing her all at once. She saw them coming, though, and took to the air with a spring-loaded jump. "Alley oop!" Reaching the pinnacle of her leap, Arale tucked and rolled, spinning like a pinball back down. The girl landed on of the drunks, who had of course entangled himself with the other two, so she took full advantage of this by kicking them out from under her, each man crashing into a different portion of the bar.   
  
All of the remaining fighters' mouths dropped. Arale turned to face them. Then, she smiled. "This is cool!" She clenched her fists, and prepared to launch into the second wave.   
  
"HOYOOOOO!!!" Arale bolted like a screaming falcon, moving into the boozers with a stream of flying fists. {BAM!}{CRUNCH!} she caught one in the jaw and another in the teeth, sending them flying into their friends. Arale continued by {THUD!} kicking a third in the knees, jumping over him to uppercut another, and hand-springing off that one to double-fist yet another. {DMM!}   
  
The drunks were completely overwhelmed by this kick-ass little girl, not even able to keep up with her blitz. Though they tried their best to sink their switchblades, she was too quick for them and, in the end, couldn't even defend themselves. Arale's fists kept finding their faces, and her feet took her away from every lunge as she whirled through, turning around to send more punches into more people.   
  
{BAM!}{WHACK!}{THUD!} Arale threw a cross, hook, and sinker. {WHAM!}{DOMP!}{BRAK!} Next she tossed a jab, elbow, and a back-kick. {SHOOM} she dragged the one left into the air and "SUPLEX!!!" slammed him into a table top, sending a shower of wood chunks everywhere.   
  
Arale let go of the downed man, falling back to the floor. Then {VIP!}{VIP!}{VIP!} she made a series of rapid leaps, bounding across the tables to eventually land on top of the jukebox, still playing "Tank!" and just now reaching the saxophone solo.   
  
The black man and redhead took a long, panning view of the ransacked tavern. Every one of their buddies have been beaten into submission, their bodies scattered about in various positions of discomfort. Their jaws dropped, and there wide eyes shifted towards the girl on the jukebox, smiling cheerfully.   
  
"Hoyo!" Arale squealed, sitting on her knees. "Come 'n' geeetttt me!"   
  
They stood dormant for a second more. Then the black man raised his beer bottle, and {KSSSH!} smashed the end over a counter top. "She's mine," he growled, stepping forward.   
  
Meanwhile, while this exchange was taking place, a young boy stood looking at Arale. Goku had been capable of moving for some time, since his tail was no longer constricted, yet he had just stood there watching the fight. His entire expression was perplexed, stunned beyond words at this girl who had taken out almost the entire group. Though he tried to find some words anyway.   
  
"She's somethin' else."   
  
The black man made the most vicious expression he could possibly connote, yet Arale was totally unfazed. "Hey, mister bad guy," she taunted, pulling down her eyelid in traditional anime style. "Betcha can't get me!"   
  
"What, are you kidding?" he answered, chuckling confidently. "Of course I can!"   
  
"Betcha can't!"   
  
"Yes I can!"   
  
"Betcha can't!"   
  
"Yes I can!"   
  
"Betcha can't!"   
  
"Shut up!" he burst out, finally loosing his cool. "Of course I can!" Clutching the bottle's neck, the black man approached Arale with murder in his eyes. He pointed the jagged end at her face and pulled his arm back, making as if to lunge. Then, he did. "HAHHH!!!"   
  
And Goku watched as Arale, right before the edge was to cut her, jumped the attack, spinning off her perch to land behind him. The black man, his bottle smashed against the jukebox, turned his head to seek his enemy, only to find he was too late...   
  
"HOI!!!" Arale raised her foot at a speed of Mach 3, and punted the man straight into the jukebox. {CRASH!!!} his head punctured the logo posted on the front, missing the currently playing record by just inches.   
  
So the man, in his last moment of lucidity, heard the finishing touches of "Tank!" "Ugh!" Then he conked out as the song clicked off.   
  
"Nah nah!" Arale stuck her tongue out at the jukeboxed man. "Knew ya couldn't!"   
  
The last remaining man, the redhead, watched as his friend was put to the pastures, absolutely astonished. "By the ghost of Patty O'Brian..."   
  
Then he watched the girl turn towards him, with the same eager expression on her face. The man gulped, and slowly backed towards the door. He knew when he was beat. "S-so sorry, but I have to water me clovers," he stammered, excusing himself to the best of his abilities. "Have a happy day!" Then {PSHOO!} he was out the door, running for dear life.   
  
Arale watched him go, a confused expression on her face. She scratched at her hair. "Hoyo?"   
  
She then heard a small sound to her left. Turning in said direction, she found it was the clunk of Goku's jaw hitting the floor. "T-that was awesome!" he burbled, walking up to her and clasping her shoulders. "How'dya learn t' fight like that?!"   
  
"Watchin' professional wrestling!" she answered, putting her hand behind her head in embarrassment.   
  
Goku let go of her, his expression returning to normal. "You got some real talent," he judged, nodding his head. "I knew you were Tenka'ichi Budokai material!"   
  
Arale giggled, and was about to comment back, when she was interrupted...   
  
"Excuse me."   
  
By a very, very irritated voice.   
  
Goku and Arale looked over to the door, and were greeted by a very unpleasant sight. Standing just inside the tavern, hands on her hips, was a sixteen-year-old girl, wearing a black leather jacket, jeans, and sneakers. Her sapphire hair was entwined in a tight braid, and her large eyes shone cerulean blue.   
  
These were not the features that were frightening, however. It was the unpleasant twitch in her eyes, the tilt to her eyebrow, and the strain of her mouth that gave her the negative aura. Yes, this girl meant business. And she meant to express it.   
  
"We need to talk."   
  
*****   
  
It would be an understatement to call the interior of Capsule Corporation "fancy." No, with a huge inside garden, a complex comm system, and every Hoi-poi item within reach, it was far from even "lavish." Save for the World King's palace, this was the Earth's most ornate building. Far too ornate for the people currently occupying it.   
  
"I can't believe you, Goku!" Bulma cried, marching up the staircase overlooking the courtyard. "Do you KNOW how much money this is going to cost us?"   
  
"Sorry, Bulma," the boy responded, keeping a safe distance away from the fiery female.   
  
"What did you think you were doing, wrecking the bar like that?" she continued, seemingly content in her own raving. "This isn't the mountains, y'know!"   
  
"Actually, I wrecked the bar," a purple-haired girl pointed out, running to catch up with them.   
  
"WELL WHO THE HELL ASKED YOU!?" her senior hollered out, blowing her hair back with the wind lash. Then, she gripped her chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!?" she screamed again, just as loud as before.   
  
"I'm Norimaki Arale!" the other chirped, smiling innocently. "Goku-kun's new friend!"   
  
"Isn't that nice?" Bulma responded sarcastically, turning away and climbing back up the stairs. "Whatever..."   
  
Turns out that the Briefs family owned quite a bit of stock in the tavern, and had just bought them out to convert it into a Capsule Corp. branch. The men inside were taking advantage of the going-out sale that the bar-owner was throwing, before the place got taken over. Yet, due to the damage caused by Arale's brawl, the price of renovation had nearly doubled, taking much more than their budget would allow.  
  
It was definitely a good thing that Dr. Briefs and Mrs. Briefs, along with the useless black cat Tama, had taken a romantic vacation for two. Romantic for Mrs. Briefs, anyway, due to her endless string of affairs with the boys on the beach. (truth be told, the doctor wanted the bar to stay)   
  
"Well, as long as you're here, go ahead and help yourself to the fridge," Bulma said, reaching for the door at the top of the staircase. "That'll at least keep you out of trouble while I work at my lab. And figure out how to solve this mess..." she ended the statement with a mumble, pressing a few buttons on a keypad to deactivate the lock mechanism.   
  
"Oh, okay," Goku said simply, heading down the stairs to the kitchen area. Then, a thought occurred to him, and he quickly dashed back. "Hey, Bulma!" he called out, tapping her on the shoulder. "Can ya do me a favor?"   
  
Bulma, halfway in the next room, turned to him. "Make it fast," she curtly said.   
  
"Can you tell me what this thing does?" he said, reaching into the pouch at his side.   
  
"Huh?" She stepped out of the doorway, nearly letting it swing shut.   
  
Goku moved his hand out of the bag, and came up with the red button from the base, all the way back in Tale 2. "Yeah, well," he started, taking a more relaxed stance. "We were walking through the woods, trying to find the city place..."   
  
"And then I smelt somethin' cool!" Arale jumped in, running up to Goku's side. "It's was poo, and I was gonna poke it!"   
  
"Right," the boy nodded to his friends. "So, anyhoo, we fell down through a bathroom, and were in this weird place..."   
  
"And then there were a buncha bombs and guns, and a little room with the pushy button!"   
  
"Then came the robot frogs, the singing, and I threw Arale-chan at them..."   
  
Then KABLOIE!!! The whole place blew up!"   
  
"SLOW DOWN!!!" Bulma cried out, waving her arms about in the air.   
  
"Hoyo?" Goku and Arale said simultaneously, raising their eyebrows in an identical fashion.   
  
The teenager gave them a long look, then shrugged in defeat. "Look, just let me see it," she snapped, taking the button from his hand. Pulling out a small magnifying lens, Bulma peered through to examine it, tilting the object to catch it from all angles. Her open eye glowed with curiosity. "Huh, this is strange," she murmured half to herself, and the duo had to cran their ears in order to hear her. "It looks like it's supposed to connect to some larger piece of machinery. But I've never seen anything like it..." She crinkled her eyebrows. "Hmm..."   
  
After a few more moments of this, Bulma lowered her hand and put the magnifier away. "I'm going to have to take a closer look at this," she decided, moving once more to her lab. "You guys watch TV or something, while I analyze this." With a twirl of the heel, she took off towards another section of Capsule Corp., mumbling as she went: "What the hell's 'hoyo' mean, anyway...?"   
  
When the girl had retreated back to her chambers, Arale stared off after her, her face a bit surprised. "She's a cranky lady," she evaluated, blinking her eyelids in affirmation.   
  
"And what does 'Ah-nah-nuh-lize' mean?" Goku added, trying not to trip on the unfamiliar word.   
  
She looked into the room a little bit, then back at the boy. "Let's go watch the tube, Goku-kun!" she said, smiling happily. "'Godzilla Vs. Mothra' is on!"   
  
Then "Wheeee...!" Arale was off, crying with joy for the anticipated event. He watched her disappear beyond the curve of the wall, then shortly joined her, also shouting out "Wheeee...!" for general purpose.   
  
Goku proceeded down the hallway, inadvertently picking out the various pictures of the Briefs family mounted on the smooth walls. There was great-grandfather Boxer, crazy Uncle Thong, and the wicked, wicked godmother Girdle. The walls were a sterile white, and the floor was cover in green carpet, giving the corridor something of a cross between a mansion and a hospital. And a little ways in front was a large archway leading to the den, which the pint-sized fighter briskly followed through.   
  
Inside the medium sized room, Goku maneuvered through the tables and sculpted vases over to a green leather sofa in front of the TV. With a quick jump, he cleared the back of the sofa and landed on the squishy seats beside Arale, already comfortably situated. He turned to ask her what she was doing, but she just grumbled, saying "The news' still on," and stared back at the screen with a bored expression on her face.   
  
Goku was going to question her about why she persisted at looking at such an uninteresting box, but upon hearing a monotone voice emit from the speaker, decided to sit back and see what the deal was.   
  
"And with a high of sixty degrees, we can expect scattered showers throughout the day," a plain-faced man drolled. "Now we go to Penguin Village for the headlines. Jill?"   
  
"Thank you, Bill," a stony female replied in a business-like tone. "It was here, in this rustic farming community, that a shocking catastrophe took place. At approximately 2:00 P.M. yesterday morning, Norimaki Senbei, also known as the infamous 'Dr. Slump,' was abducted right near the privacy of his own home."   
  
"Doc!" Arale suddenly blurted, jolting out of her seat like it was a burning stove.   
  
"Wha..." Goku startled, looking at her like she was crazy. "Arale-chan, what's up?" he asked, after a moment. "D'ya know that guy?"   
  
"That's the doc!" she exclaimed, her face a mixture between worry and shock. "That's my creator!"   
  
"Your creator...?" he pondered, not knowing quite what that meant. But soon, the newscasters began speaking again, and both he and Arale turned back to watch, anxiously awaiting the upcoming information.   
  
"As you can see here, there was absolutely no damage inflicted upon the premises," the woman begun again, motioning to the windows of a large, well built house. "Investigators believe that the good doctor was lured out of his home, and somehow detained and taken out of the city. There are no leads yet, so to speak, but the Penguin Village police force gave up this statement: 'Those crooks can kiss our asses!' This is Jill, signing off."   
  
When the broadcast was finally over, Goku turned to the girl with a sympathetic face. "Gee, how about that?" he said. "This really sucks, dosen't it?...   
  
Arale didn't respond. "Doc..." she whispered to no one in particular, then drifting off into silence.   
  
He was about to follow up with another statement, but for once his brain was working faster than his mouth, so he kept quiet. The boy's gaze focused on his friend, then drifted off towards his hands in his lap. He fiddled with his fingers for a bit, flipping the thumbs over and under, over and over again. "I wonder where he went?" he said to himself, continuing to stare at his hands.   
  
"The same place you two will be going," a voice spoke from behind, starting the both of them.   
  
Goku and Arale turned around...   
  
...to find six Red Ribbon soldiers, armed to the teeth and pointing shiny, metal gun barrels at their heads. "Come with us," they ordered, steely expressions on their faces. "You're under arrest."   
  
Da-da-DUUMMMM!!!   
  
*****   
  
Additional Disclaimer(s): "Tank!" belongs to Yoko Kanno, and to all other artists who contributed to this song. (and yes, the black cat that sits on Dr. Briefs' shoulders IS named Tama. Don't ask why I know such a useless piece of trivia.)  
  
*****   
  
Arale: "N'cha! In the next chapter, we gotta ditch those bad guys! Hee hee, I have an idea!"   
  
Goku: "Then, it's a mad dash to escape the city, especially with th' Red Ribbon on our tails!...   
  
Goku/Arale: (with arms around each other) "All this and more, in the next exciting chapter of 'Jan-ken PUNCH!'"   
  
RisanF: "Until next time, ja..." {B-BOMB!!!}   
  
(All of a sudden, shards of drywall burst out from behind the writer, startling him from his perch. From the gaping hole he now looked at, a short figure emerges, glowing with untamed power. And looking kinda angry.)   
  
RisanF: "Oh, hello Vegeta. What brings you to my cozy little hole?   
  
Vegeta: (spit flying from his mouth) "You know damn well what I want! How dare you write a Dragon Ball Z fanfic without starring me?! I am Vegeta, prince of all Saiyans blah blah strongest in the universe blah blah blah better than Kakarrot blah blah, blah blah and furthermore..."   
  
RisanF: (tactfully interrupting him) "Um...Vegeta, this is a 'Dragon Ball' fanfic. Not 'Dragon Ball Z.' So if you would kindly remove yourself from my office..."   
  
Vegeta: "I'll move whenever the hell I want, for I am of royal blah blah nobody tells me what to blah blah you all should bow to me blah blah blah etc etc..."  
  
RisanF: {reaching under the desk for a small button) "Yes, well, I'll put it on my agenda." (pushes button) "Have a nice day."   
  
Vegeta: Shut up! I'm not finished with yooouuuuu...!" (falls down trapdoor)   
  
RisanF: "What a weirdo..." (notices audience) "Ahh, until next time, ja ne! ^_^;" 


	9. Tale 5, Part 1

Jan-ken PUNCH!   
  
By Reid M. Haynes  
  
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump and all characters within are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.   
  
Legend:   
( ) Denotes thoughts.   
{ } Denotes sound effects.   
  
Note: This chapter features a brief song fic section, set to the opening for Dr. Slump, "Wai-Wai World." If you are not familiar with the tune, you can download it from www.angelfire.com/anime3/gokuarale/janken.html. Trust me, you have to hear the absurdity of this song to truly "enjoy" this chapter.   
  
Tale 5: Go, Go, Goku! Arale-chan Too! Part 1   
  
*****   
  
Let's see, where did we leave off? Okay, Goku and Arale entered the city, messed around there for a while, then bumbled into a bar thinking it was an optometrist's office. After that, Goku was bullied by three drunk men, Arale miraculously found the glasses she was looking for, and she and the drunkards got into a huge brawl set to an anime theme song. Then there was Bulma, the red button, Senbei's abduction…   
  
"Come with us. You're under arrest."   
  
…and I believe this was our stopping point. Oh yes.   
  
The tiny troop, Goku and Arale, continued to stare unhesitantly; rather, blankly, at their newly acquired foes, the RR six. With faces nearly as bland as their quarry, this half-dozen set of soldiers dutifully kept their rifles trained on the duo, nozzles not moving an inch off target. Their arms, adorned with the famous Red Ribbon bandanna, were stiff, anticipating a recoil should the two try to move. And their eyes, cold with resolve, were tiny slivers, making sure that the two didn't ever think of moving.   
  
They stood at a standstill for several moments, staring the other down with intensity that could ignite dry wood.   
  
Then Goku sighed. This wasn't going anywhere.   
  
"Um…" he said, raising a limp finger. "Are we just gonna keep lookin' at each other all day?"   
  
The RR troopers looked startled by this accusation, having forgotten what to do after the intimidating stare procedure. But upon consulting the manual, they quickly regained their composure . "Ahem," the leading soldier, whom we'll call RR1, brushed a stray drop of stress-sweat from his sideburns. "We've been ordered by the Commander to take you into our custody, due to a negligence of established rule."   
  
"What are you talkin' about?" Goku snapped "We ain't done nuthin' wrong!"   
  
"We have here recorded a failure to observe our order at approximately 0900 hours, under the King's Castle at our former outpost," spoke RR2, reading off of a baize clipboard. "At that time, you broke into an army base, ransacked it, and pilfered our most prized piece of technology, which clearly violates Law 001: 'Don't take our stuff.'"   
  
"The little press-button?" Arale asked, blinking curiously. "But it didn't do anything."   
  
"So you pressed the button!" the one called RR3 cried, folding his arms in distaste.   
  
"That goes in direct violation of Law 735: 'Don't press our buttons.'" RR2 raised an eyebrow. "You're building up quite a racket here." he commented, lowering his clipboard for the moment. "I wonder how many more I can tally up?"   
  
"But it didn't do anything!" the girl repeated, waving her arms in protest.   
  
"Irrelevant." RR1 shook his head, keeping his gun focused on them. "A law is a law, and a Red Ribbon law is that plus much more."   
  
Upon hearing the army's name, Goku was about to comment on this, when a high pitched wail shook his out of his current thought. He looked towards the door, and heard the sounds of struggle coming from the west wing of the "mansion." One of the soldiers, RR4, turned as well, and a slow smile coated his lips. "Looks like we've found our third lawbreaker," he commented, moving his rifle away from Arale. A sweatdrop coasted Goku's temple.   
  
"Get offa me, you perverts!" a familiar sounding voice shrieked from outside. The group of people, including the soldiers, turned to the door to catch Bulma, courtesy of two more RR troops, screaming and squirming over to the den. After a little more struggle, the RRs succeeded in throwing her down on the couch, pulling up their guns as soon as they could. "Who do you think you are!?" she snarled, giving them a stare of burning coals. "This is no way to treat a girl, especially one as beautiful as myself!"   
  
"Maybe they don't think you're very pretty," Goku reasoned, glancing back to her from his place on the couch. "It's prob'ly because of 'dose lumps on your chest."   
  
"SHUT UP!!!" Bulma screamed, fleckles of spit splattering against his cheeks.   
  
"Ooh!" Arale cringed away from some if the stray saliva. "That's wet!" she complained, wiping it off her face.   
  
"Heh heh, where you're going, beauty won't be much of a factor," RR5 sniped with a vicious grin. "Trust me, they won't care much of your appearance in the Red Ribbon Penitentiary." He snickered is a satisfied sort of way.   
  
"Why you…!" the older girl growled, staring at him balefully. "Who made you the boss of me?!"   
  
"The mayor did," RR6, the only women out of the group, suddenly spoke up.   
  
"Huh?" Bulma's eyebrows raised in curiosity.   
  
The female soldier relaxed her posture, preparing to give her speech. "As of 4:30 today, we have complete authority over the Western Capital," she said easily. "This includes as well all other communities within this district." As the woman continued, Bulma's jaw lowered more and more, until it almost grazed her neck. "When we occupied this city, the mayor was only too kind as to hand over the keys. Naturally, we did have to persuade him to our ways, but he got the point soon enough." RR6 ended the statement with a small chuckle, flashing her eerily white teeth.   
  
Goku looked away and down at his hands. "Rats," he cursed, clenching them into fists. "And I thought I took care of you Red Ribbon guys months ago!"   
  
"Ha ha," RR8 snickered, readjusting the grip on his gun. "Trust us, we're still very much an active organization. Thanks to our new leader's ingenuity, the Red Ribbon Army's back on his feet and, if things go according to plan, soon to be more powerful than ever." His smile shrunk to a half-smirk. "To think that the first use of our new technology is to capture our nemesis, the invincible Son Goku." The man turned to the girl beside the boy, and increased the intensity of his glare three notches. "And to think all of our new technology came from your very own creator, the ingenious Dr. Slump."   
  
"Huh?!" Arale jolted upwards out of her seat at the mention of her father's name. "Hey, what have you done to th' doc?!" she demanded harshly, thrusting her finger out at them.   
  
"Enough!" RR1 shouted. "This all ends now!"   
  
At that statement, the six-turned-eight Red Ribbon privates ceased the small talk and moved closer to the captives, retraining their rifles to the space between their eyes. Each standing in single file, they kept their guns on the nearest target, leaving two on Arale and three on Goku and Bulma.   
  
"Now now, let's not be hasty," Bulma said with a nervous laugh. "After all, I'm the daughter of the president of Capsule Corp, and I can pay you guys a lot of money for…"   
  
"Can it, missy," RR3 interrupted, sending her back in a cowering frenzy. "We enjoy this too much." Amidst the fear and chaos settling inside the white walls, the soldiers continued to move towards the small group, three of them pulling out their handcuffs and binds. Those three headed towards Goku, Arale, and Bulma, while the others watched for any rebellious attempts. RR3 retained a stoic expression, then smiled as an idea came to him. "Oh, and in case any one of you is thinking of being a hero, forget it," The soldier patted the barrel of his gun, a certain price within his touch. "These carbines are special issue, new weaponry straight from Red Ribbon's development lab. I've seen this baby pierce through ten inches of tempered steel. I'm sure it's more than capable of drilling through any of you. And that includes you," He grinned an evil grin. "Son Goku."   
  
At the mention of his name, Goku sunk back in his seat, looking a bit worried. (I think…he's serious,) he thought to himself, giving off a small bead of sweat.   
  
"Men, let's take 'em in," RR1 announced, and RRs 3-5 moved toward the trio.   
  
Goku accepted his fate with calm stoicism. Bulma continued to whine and cry into a little ball. And Arale…   
  
"Wait, wait!" the four-eyed lass suddenly shrieked, her eyes lighting up with an immediate shine. "I haven't singed my song yet!"   
  
"Wha…" All of the soldiers jerked back at the girl's odd request. Each of the three who were shackling out hero and heroines…er, heroine and coward, stopped their progress to gape at this. "What are you talking about?" RR6 asked, lowering her gun for a moment.   
  
Before she got her question answered. Arale had jumped up off the couch, moving right through the guards and to a large machine near the TV. "Gotta sing my song. Gotta sing my song…" It was Bulma's ridiculously expensive stereo system, complete with oversized woofers and a glossy, black finish. More importantly, it was CD compatible, capable of playing the music that the girl retrieved from her pocket. A very important CD, one vital to the nature of this story.   
  
The Dr. Slump OST, Volume 1.   
  
Removing the disc from it's jewel case, Arale fit her finger into the center hole, her other hand pushed onto the stereo's eject button. Carefully, but swiftly, she placed the soundtrack into the slot and pressed it back into the unit, activating the system's display.   
  
With a cheery smile on her face, she triggered the search, moving over to Track 3. "My song! ^o^" Once arrived, she pushed on the play button, prompting the laser within to activate.   
  
It scanned the surface of the shard for the desired information.   
  
About a second passed. Arale stared at the stereo eagerly.   
  
And then, a series of odd sound emerged from the speakers.   
  
{BEEBEEBEEBEE BOO, BA-BA-BA BOOO…!}   
  
After the synth-tom solo, a complicated series of blaring brass ascended the musical scale, underscored by symphony strings that lowered step by step. The entire group of soldiers ceased doing the capturing thing and put all their efforts into watching the girl, who was pulling out a karaoke microphone. Goku and Bulma turned to look as well, confused to why the girl had completely changed the situation around from tension to…something else.   
  
As the last set of toms beat to the first verse, Arale turned the cap on her head backwards. Then, with a smile on her face, she began to sing her favorite tune.   
  
Arale: "Kitta zo Kita zo Arale-Chan,   
Kiin-kin-kin-kin-kin-kiin, Teke-teke-tet-ten-ten,"   
  
The eight men observed as the impish girl, seemingly unaware of any sort of danger, bounced to the cheery little tune she sang. She waved her microphone about as she skipped merrily through the Capsule Corp den, going in circles around the guards and gesturing to Goku and Bulma, as if she wanted the two to sing along.   
  
Arale: "Pip-pi-pi-pi-pup-pep-poo, Gatchan mo,   
Yume no bakudan uchiagero…!"   
  
But none of the RRs felt like singing right now. In fact, their vocal cords were frozen shut by their astonishment. Perhaps the entrancing tune of Arale had rendered them in silent away. Or perhaps they were scared stiff by the fact that such a ridiculous song actually existed in the world they thought they controlled.   
  
Arale: "O-hi-sama nikka-nika,   
Buta-san hoo-ho-kek-kyo,"   
  
The song continued on, and one of the soldiers finally broke down. "I can't TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!" RR5 hollered, covering his ears with his mitts.   
  
A flash of instinct twinkled in Goku's eye, causing him to jerk up out of his trance. His hands balled into fists.   
  
(NOW!!!)   
  
Arale: "Minna atsumare, Pengin-Mura ni,   
Donna koto ga okiru ka na,   
Sore yuke Is-shi-shi-shi O-tanoshimi!"   
  
{sssSS-DOMP!} Goku threw out a thundering punch that drove into RR1's stomach, knocking the straining man into the wall. With gusto, he quickly rushed the rest of the guards, taking his opportunity for all it was worth. (BRAK!}{BRAK!}{BRAK!} His feet flew in a vicious combination of kicks, knocking heads back and forth along the line of soldiers. {FFP!}{FFP!} Reaching the last of them, he threw two more punches at RR5 and RR6, and (KOM!} double fisted 7 right on the noggin, sending him out for the count.   
  
Arale: "Minna atsumare, Pengin-Mura ni,   
Donna koto ga okiru ka na,   
Sore yuke Is-shi-shi-shi O-tanoshimi!"   
  
Although the guards were falling quickly, none of them made any effort to defend themselves. Each of them had already discovered that if they were to raise their rifles, they would have to take their hands off their ears, rendering them helpless to the terror that was "Wai-Wai World." So they opted instead to leave themselves open to the little chimp's onslaught, taking each blow as delivered. Hard.   
  
At the end of the chorus, RRs 1-7 had been dealt their deathblows, and only the eighth was left standing. An oversight that Goku was to rectify, pulling the Nyoibo out from the sheath. He extended the staff to an appropriate length, turning to the last soldier and aiming for the head. He moved the weapon back a bit. Then {CRACK!} he decked the guard with a half-moon slice, knocking him up to Dreamland's gate.   
  
The last thing the man saw was the image of Arale, dancing to the remainder of the song. Then, with a weak mutter of "Bye-cha," he fell unconscious, glad that his torment was finally through.   
  
With a stylish (read: unnecessary) brandish, Goku twirled his staff back into his sheath, letting his hand fall once he heard its trademark {CHINK!} He walked up to Arale, giving her a grateful grin. "Thanks a lot!" he said. "With that distraction, I managed to get 'em!"   
  
"Yeah," she answered, and a curious look appeared in her eyes. "But didn'ja like my song?" she asked, blinking at him innocently.   
  
"Sure," he answered matter-of-factly, then motioned to the couch behind him. "But I don't think Bulma did very much," he commented. The girl and boy looked over to the area, and found the teenager sprawled over the cushions, an unattractive glob of drool streaming from her lips. "Eehh…"   
  
Arale stared at her for a little while, then turned back to the boy. "So whadda we do, now that th' bad dudes have gone sleepy-bye?"   
  
Goku looked left and right, trying to find inspiration in the medium-sized room. "Well, I'm not sure, but usually when I beat up a buncha guys, about a hundred more come t' get me." His mind only partially registered the "Hoyo!" from his friend as he continued to search the room. "We should probably go somewhere else."   
  
"Like where?" She moved to Goku's side, stepping on a few of the benumbed RRs along the way. Arale looked at him for an answer, grilling with her big blue eyes.   
  
Not quite sure what to do next, he turned left and wandered over to the edge of the room. Taking a look out the window, he peered down at the land below Capsule Corp, the city outside.   
  
The window…   
  
"That's it!" Goku said, raising his finger in the air.   
  
*****   
  
Midnight in the Western Capital. A mysterious time in which, even though the sun had ducked beyond the horizon, the life of the town was as frantic as ever. Buses and cars still ferried their passengers across the reflector-filled road, and the monorail tore down the track as fast as they ever did. A few people walked on the aerial sidewalks over the building; not as much as usual, due to inner-city crime. And yet, this only seemed to make the town even busier, like some sort of eternal factory that never released its workers.   
  
Across the cityscape, each of the skyscrapers shone with artificial light of every color, turning them into high-tech, steel monoliths. Billboards and buildings filled every expanse of territory, roads cut through the structure like metal-piercing lasers, neon signs and subway lines shone down below and, finally, blue and white searchlights knit a scorched trench through the early-morning fog, turning the entire land into some sort of technical oasis that could intimidate Kami himself.   
  
For awhile, all that could be heard was the everyday chatter of urban living.   
  
Then {CLASH!!!} out of the top window of the Capsule Corp building, a shower of broken glass twinkled down through the hazy night, as two figures leaped through the unprotected hole. Following through with their jump, the mysterious little creatures rolled into identical somersaults, side by side, as if they rehearsed it. The synchronized routine continued predictably, right up to the point where they reached the nearby road, both landing in perfect dismounts. And from there, they burst ahead, their feet beating up a torrent of dirt behind their bodies that sped toward the rest of Western Capital, away from the trouble from whence they came.   
  
Goku and Arale moved down the street in their respective ways: Goku strong-arming it, and Arale in airplane mode. (Kiiiii…) Each moved at Bullet's Envy, tearing the turf at about 80 kph. Their eyes aimed straight ahead, yet somehow they sensed the others presence, for they kept relatively close. But each were ready to break apart at a moment's whim, knowing the danger of remaining too near during combat situations.   
  
Behind them, a cold rumbling could be heard trying to catch up to them. Maybe it was a friendly patrol, trying to figure out what two kids were doing running the streets at this time of night. Maybe it was an enemy, a new technical terror that would rip them at first chance. Or maybe it was the beating of their own hearts, too timid to catch up with their incredible speeds.   
  
"You IDIOT!!!" Bulma hollered at Goku, leaning off the side of her mo-ped. "What the hell have you gotten us into now?! You've got the entire Red Ribbon Army on my tail AGAIN!!! When I get my hands on you…"   
  
"Nuthin' we can to do about it now," Goku called back, not bothering to look back as he ran. "We gotta get goin'!"   
  
"That's what I AM doing, you freak!" she snapped back, steam coming from her ears.   
  
Arale broke away from her glide for the moment to look to Bulma, though she continued running as normal. "Don't be a meanie, lady," she said, giving her what she hoped was an encouraging grin. "Let's enjoy the ride! Wheeee!!!"   
  
"I'll enjoy it like a kick to the face!" Bulma ignored the younger girl's optimism, turning back to watch the road ahead. When a small speck of light hit her eye. "What the…" She glanced briefly at the rear-view mirror, trying to see what had changed behind at Capsule Corp.   
  
And right above the "Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear" notice, a unspeakable horror greeted her blue stained irises. "Oh Kami…"   
  
Though we'll try to speak it anyway.   
  
From behind the shine of the capital's biggest building, there emerged the combined might of seven Red Ribbon modified airplanes, as well as five military helicopters, sorting missiles, machine guns, and other nasty surprises. And that wasn't all. Ten tanks rumbled out of Capsule Corp, knocking down the gate as if it were a doggy door. The fastest of the terrors, in the end, were none other than the smallest; the motorcyclists moved at a pace fast enough to bypass both the ground and aerial troops.   
  
Fast enough to catch up to our hero and heroines.   
  
"Oh man, they're right there!" Bulma cried, looking behind her goggle-eyed. "Goku, what do we do?!"   
  
"Hmm…" The boy put a hand to his chin, a rather impressive feet considering how fast he was moving. "Those guys DO look they're catchin' up fast…"   
  
"Gokuuu!!!" she whined, seeing the bikers inch closer and closer.   
  
"Don't rush me," Goku growled stubbornly, actually folding his arms mid-dash. Forced to wait, Bulma managed several more gallons of sweat, obscuring the windshield of the mo-ped. Of course Arale wasn't disturbed at all, and waited cheerfully for the martial-artist to continue.   
  
{KSPAM!} Suddenly a spray of sparks erupted from a dent in the mo-ped, courtesy of a bullet from one of the RRs pistols. Bulma looked at this, her face ashen, then hollered as loud as she could. "They're shooting at me!" she screamed with a red snake tongue. "They're SHOOTING at ME!" She looked towards the sky, raising her hands in the air. "Someone HEEELP!!!" and then she swerved crazily about on her bike, having forgotten she was still driving when she decided to freak out.   
  
"Alright, got it!" Goku snapped his fingers, turning to the others with new inspiration. "Bulma, you lay low and take the back roads. Get out of the city as soon as possible." He turned to the purple-haired girl. "Me and Arale will distract those guys while you're runnin' scared, and hold 'em off. We meet up outside the town about and oar…owwwaaa…Bulma, what's that thing?"   
  
"Hour," she supplied, rolling her eyes.   
  
"Yeah, thought it was somethin' like that," he nodded, looking back ahead. "Anyway, that's th' deal. Everything cool?"   
  
"Yessy yes yes!" Arale nodded, grinning.   
  
"Yeah, yeah…" Bulma moaned, somewhat less enthusiastically. "Better than getting shot at..."   
  
"Alright then," Goku said, narrowing his eyes at the speeding road. And a small grin touched his lips.   
  
The group continued to the highway exit, with one branch leading down to the suburbs, and the other moving further into the city. Behind them, the RR bikers were gaining ground, approaching within 50 meters of their targets. Just as they flicked their headlights on, Bulma leaned towards the rightmost end of the fork, sparing no time getting as far away from them as possible. Which was all right with Goku and Arale, who now had full reign of the road to plot their attacks, without having to worry about Bulma accidentally getting in the way.   
  
Arale looked behind her and squinted her eyes. "They're movin' real fast, Goku-kun," she warned with a trace of worry in her tone. Then, that trace vanished, vanished an instant after it appeared. "This is gonna be FUN!"   
  
"Can't talk anymore, 'Rale-chan," Goku rushed, gritting his teeth in preparation. "'Cause here they come!"   
  
*****   
  
Goku: "Part 2 will be comin' soon."   
  
Arale: "Don't go bye-cha!" 


	10. Tale 5, Part 2

Jan-ken PUNCH!   
  
By Reid M. Haynes  
  
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump and all characters within are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.   
  
Legend:   
( ) Denotes thoughts.   
{ } Denotes sound effects.   
  
Tale 5: Go, Go, Goku! Arale-chan Too! Part 2   
  
*****   
  
On the long strait leading to the next exit, a single, black limousine glided down the freeway at a comfortable 70kph. The latest off the assembly line, it proudly sported quad hover pads, red spoilers, and a rounded finish, not to mention heavily tinted windows and all the usual frills. Right now, its headlights scorched the cold concrete, allowing the scoffer to navigate expertly between the yellow lines. And allowing the passenger to expertly laze off, after a hard day's doing nothing.   
  
Richard Jifferson, or Jiffy for short, lazily moved his cigar over to the ashtray, tapping a few scraps that barely managed to find their ways in. Taking another draw on the smoke stick, the savvy businessman reached over to the small bar for his customized import champagne, and started to pour it into a chalice. After it overflowed with liquor, he moved it to his lips, ready to take a sip. Right before he ingested the champagne, he blew a stream of gas straight to the driver's seat, filling the entire limo with gray, stinking haze.   
  
Jiffy twirled his cigar in his finger, spreading more ash carelessly about, as he glanced to the seat in front. "Smuckers, my good man," he said, referring to the man with his glass. "Will you turn on the air conditioning. It's getting quite rank in here." He made a show of waving away the smoke, turning away with a small cough.   
  
Smuckers, still wheezing from the tobacco blast he was forced to endure, took a moment to answer him. "Yes sir, Mr. Jifferson," he said, trying to keep his voice at least civil, if not respectful.   
  
"Swell, swell," he responded, taking a swig of his beverage, taking a bit longer to savor the flavor. "That's a good boy."   
  
The other bit back a back a grumble as he flicked on the AC unit, turning back to driving and away from the laid back man behind him. Gentleman. Pheh. The word brought a scowl to his face, and he gripped the steering wheel with a certain malice. What an intoxicated breed of men. Always chugging down the drinks, money, and girls that came with the prestigious world. Smuckers didn't have much credit going for him, but he bet his ass he could work a cubical as well as this joke, and probably court the ladies better too. It was tough seeing the higher ups get the pot of gold, and guys like him getting the bottom of the barrel.   
  
The man seethed over these thoughts for a couple moments more, then sighed exasperatedly, returning to the wheel. Oh well. A zenny's a zenny. After all, it wasn't like he was going to be stuck in this job forever. Once he graduated from Orange Star U, he'd have a head start in the corporate world, esp. with the internship he had set up. Upon these thoughts, a slow sneer creeped its way along his lips. After a couple of years, he'd have overfed poultry like this snot for his morning brunch. That is, after he was done licking the scum off his boots.   
  
Still. The limo driver put a hand to his chin. It wouldn't hurt for something interesting to happen on the job right now. "Peanut Man" was a big shot in the Western Capital, so someone's gotta be after him. Maybe the weird army guys that were in the city before...   
  
Smuckers entertained this line of thought a little longer, then went back to his driving. (Maybe some other day. he thought,) as he kept two eyes on the street he traveled, and his two ears listening to the beats of "Sonic Adventure: Speed Highway," the only divergent he had on these boring jobs. (Good thing the noise doesn't travel through the back,) he thought with a smirk. (Having the snot scream at me is not my idea of relaxation.)   
  
"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"   
  
When the odd noise first sounded, Smuckers dismissed it, thinking it to be another patrol car that seemed to stake out this expressway. (or one of the weird sounds that played throughout "Speed Highway") "Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!" When he heard it again, he peered in the rear view mirror, hoping to buy still not catching sight of whatever had made this noise. "Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!" Then, when the sound continued to grow more and more pronounced, he slowed down a bit, waiting to see if anyone would approach from behind. "Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"   
  
And finally, when he saw two lone shapes cut down the road, he figured that something was up. "Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"   
  
"Excuse me, sir," Smuckers started, reverting to his semi-polite accent. "But there appears to be several fast vehicles approaching us."   
  
"Ignore them," Jiffy answered, waving his glass causally about. "I've no time to waste on trifles."   
  
"But sir...!" he protested, actually glancing back at his passenger.   
  
"That's an order, Smuckers," the senior of them said sternly, and Smuckers REALLY had to bite his tongue to keep from snapping out a surly reply.   
  
{tmp-tmp-Tmp-Tmp-TMP...!} Suddenly, a rapid series of footfalls overtook the roar of the hover engines, preempting the driver's imminent ire. The man turned to the back to see what the trouble was to find that the two mystery cars had gained a lot of ground on them. Only they weren't cars, but actually small children, maybe around their pre-teens. They were moving exceptionally fast, fast enough even to catch the eye of Planters, who looked with growing astonishment at this astonishing sight (reduntant, isn't it?)   
  
The two continued to look at them with wide eyes. And there eyes grew even wider upon discovering that they were not ten meters within the limo. "What the hell...?"   
  
One of the kids, a black haired boy, began to speed a bit ahead of the other.   
  
"Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way!" and {SHOOM!} he shot by on the left side, nearly sideswiping the expensive automobile as he continued to rip down the road, unheeded by any physical law known to man.   
  
As it was, Smuckers had to fight to regain control of the vehicle. "Urrrgh...!" The limo edged sharply to the side, tilting over a full 33 degrees before managing to settle back down with a hand {FWAP!} The man checked left and right to see if they were still in the right lane, then turned back front to glimpse the fast figure zooming away. "Geez, what the hell WAS that?!" he exclaimed, not really caring who was listening.   
  
Jiffy did not respond to this rugged talk, but just kept staring ahead, not even bothering to wipe off the wine that had spilt on his brand new suit. "Uhh..." His hand barely managed to keep hold of the glass, and his mouth was hanging open with a small glob of drool dropping from his mouth; very ungentlemanlike.   
  
"KiiiiiiIIIIII...!"   
  
Before they had a chance to really celebrate, the second figure had approached. Smuckers barely had time to turn the wheel before {WHAM!!!} the limousine was hit by a tremendous force. (SKIII...!} It span and swerved right over the median, crossing four lanes and eventually settled for teetering on the edge, rocking back and forth over the shining city.   
  
Amidst the hair-raising situation, Smuckers tried his best to remain under control. But when he heard the older gentleman cowering and whimpering, and saw that his favorite champagne was all over the floorboards, he changed his nervous expression into a covert smirk. He allowed a small chuckle to escape his mouth.   
  
(Good.)   
  
*****   
  
Note: If you happen to have the song "Speed Highway" on your PC, now would be a good time to take after Smuckers and play it...   
  
*****   
  
The cold asphalt of the suspended expressway melted into a montage of blue/gray streaks as it rushed backwards over and over again. Shining over this strange tapestry were fast-moving gold spotlights, one left behind and one popping up every half-second. Beyond the road's concrete rims were the holiday-like speckles of the nuclear powered metropolis, red, blue, etc. And high on the horizon, the orbs and shafts of the varying skyscraper designs made its accent to the bluish glow that they themselves emitted, completing the scene for this highway chase we're about to observe.   
  
{TMP! TMP! TMP!} The soles of our hero and heroine's shoes beat their ways through the neon-night and carried them down the highway. Son Goku and Norimaki Arale were zooming on either side of the yellow dividers, both moving at about the same excessively-speedy pace. Behind them, the two observed the 5 RR bikers, who were arranged in an inverted V that seems wanting to chomp them up. As they approached closer, this seemed actually to be the case.   
  
As they approached closer, their peaceful run was over.   
  
To Goku's immediate right, one of the motorists was reaching for the rifle fixed to his back. He altered his onward course to move in the direction of his attacker, running alongside him. The RR almost had his weapon adjusted into place when {FWAP!} it was smacked out of his hands off towards the edge of the road, Additional surprise awaited him when he found he was soon to join the rifle, as {BAM!} a hard kick of Goku's swept him off his bike and down the long drop to the below city, where hard concrete awaited him.   
  
Following through with his aerial roundhouse, Goku landed deftly on his feet, continuing his run. Upon hearing some harsh pops behind, the boy turned to view the rear view action. Two of the soldiers had managed to get THEIR guns out without incident, and were now using them to take potshots at the little girl ahead of them. {PAM!} {PAM!} The knifelike crack of their blasts jabbed through the city air; however, Arale's weaving made certain they hit nothing but road.   
  
{KSS!} {PEO!} {KANG!} A series of sparks arose at every one of her previous positions, blinking on and off like a electric light display. Still, not so much as a bit of the fire hit on target, just fizzling out as cold as the street they burned upon. Frustrated, the RRs continued pulling their rifles' triggers, only to discover that they had squandered all of their ammunition away. Dismay radiated their cheekbones, as the hollow clicks failed to emit any sort of projectile at the enemy. They looked down at their belts, hoping to find a spare clip for reloading, but a glimmer ahead made them turn back to the road.   
  
Their faces lowered an octave on the depression scale when they found it was Arale, who had turned at the sound of their empty guns. More precisely, it was the gleam from her smiling mouth. Their faces registered absolute horror. "Hoyooo!!!" Then, they bore witness to a bolting, flying kick headed straight at them, performed by none other than their target. {DONG!} First, the rubber sole sunk into the left-hand RR's face, knocking his body and bike a good 180; next, the girl used this to springboard to the other to give him the same treatment. In the end, both were disposed of in much the same fashion, their cycles cutting a saffron wave of spark as the handlebars ground on the pavement, wheels failing to find a place on the road. Arale watched them skid to a stop, then returned to face the oncoming turns, still running, still moving...   
  
Three of the five bikers behind had met their end, and Goku and Arale were now fairly matched with the remaining two. Unfortunately, for the duo, this was not to last. Behind them, seven glowing spots bit through the mist, the shapes concealed becoming more and more defined as they The kids watched out of corner of their eyes, and were surprised to see another wave of Red Ribbon motorcyclists, the revealed figures pulling their rifles out, and ready for a second assault.   
  
Goku made a slightly irritated face, then slowed his run to half it's original speed in an effort to let the enemy catch up with them. Wide eyed, Arale made the decision to join him, and soon both fighters were neck to neck in the biker's general area, matching their speed quite easily. They glanced left and right at their opponents, gauging the nine soldiers potential danger to them. Then, then clenched their fists, making ready for another quick bout of fisticuffs.   
  
{sssSBAP!} Arale made her fist collide into a biker's helmet, tilting him and his cycle into a staggering sideways roll that carried them away from the girl, and off the highway. Wasting no time, she jumped to another RR's head, wrenching him off his perch and above her head. Balancing perfectly on the seat, she scanned the blurring road of the closest available target. Finding it in the form of a horrified solder, she bent back and, with a heave, tossed her cargo straight at him, knocking them both into a scrambled mess that tore backwards along the road, not stopping until Arale had hopped back onto the road, letting the rider-less motorcycle drain itself uselessly of gas.   
  
As Arale was finishing up with her half of the group, Goku tangled with his a bit further down the road. {PAM!} {PAM!} The soldiers tried their best to sink their bullets in the boy's skull, but they found the lithe little fighter to be no easier than the previous opponent. {VNN!} {VNN!} He danced like lightning around the whizzing bullets, simultaneously running and pulling out the Nyoibo from behind his back. The weapon was brought horizontally along his chest, stretched out to the ends of the road, until it reached the relative distance of the two opposing bikers that he was currently dealing with. He gauced his position carefully, making sure the staff was placed just right. Then, all he had to do was slow down a bit, and (BING!} the RRs beaned themselves on their own accord, running their heads straight into Nyoibo and putting them out of the fight.   
  
There were only two bikers remaining, remarkably the same two that had avoided defeat earlier, and the duo sought to it that they wouldn't last much longer. Arale moved over to the nearer of the two and swatted him off his bike with a series of rough-and-tumble. He toppled away to the side, and somehow managed to hook his foot on his vehicles exhaust pipe, dragging it along with him. The remaining guard had only enough time to fire one last futile shot at Goku, who then was the approaching one. But this was render futile, as the fighter plucked the bullet out of midair and {PLIK!} sent it straight into the rider's tire, causing a world class spinout that ejected him straight off the road.   
  
The soldiers were cleared off the road, and Arale and Goku were treated to a pleasant run to the remainder of the expressway, though they certainly didn't take their time with it. {VOOM!} No, they continued moving just as fast as before, tearing into the turnpike fast enough to melt the cement beneath their shoes. Down through the turns and loops they curved, each staying within five feet of the other. The city lights blurred and swirled into a psychedelic effect, unrecognizable and indescribable to all but those who experienced it.   
  
Street lights moved at a fantastic pace. Reflectors flashed along the road. The city shone all around. And the two young kids kept moving, moving, moving...   
  
Street lights moved at a fantastic pace. Reflectors flashed along the road. The city shone all around. And the two young kids kept moving, moving, moving...   
  
"Yo," Goku called behind him, after they had gone aways down the road. "I think we're past the first wave."   
  
"Yup," Arale nodded, then turned behind her. "Whadabout those guys over 'dere?" she asked, pointing to the large, heavy things approaching on the road.   
  
"Huh?" Goku followed her gaze, and lurched back in disdain. "Uh, oh..."   
  
While they were busy fighting the motorcyclists, creeping up behind them were the tanks and helicopters they had forgotten about. Very, very FAST tanks and helicopters, somehow managing to put out enough power to clear the gulf of pavement that separated them from their quarry. They had already lurched over the hump that concealed the full armament that they were. In a moment...they would catch up to them.   
  
Goku looked at the approaching vessels warily, a slightly worried expression on his face. "It's gonna be tough to fight all those things on this tiny road..." he said to himself, somehow able to speak normally despite his intense stride. He continued running aways, watching the road again. "Hey, I know!" he suddenly burst out, upon sight of an inspiration. Arale turned to where the boy was staring at, and let loose an exclamation of her own. "Hoyo?"   
  
Within a stone's throw, there was the green board signifying a highway exit. While the straight path continued the highway out of the city, taking the right-hand branch would lead back to downtown, through the business skyscrapers and high-class restaurants. "Why doncha go down thadaway," he requested, pointing off to the side path. "And I'll go this way. Then, we'll have some room t' fight without each other gettin' in the way. That cool?"   
  
Arale nodded her consent. "Okay!" she responded, looking back to the road, and slowly edging to the upcoming exit sign.   
  
The road's little yellow lines continued to swarm in a constant streak, melting together like it was really just one line trying to convince you it was several. Goku and Arale sped up to the fork, still moving as one unit, though they were beginning to separate. Each child kept his/her eyes towards their own destination, ignoring the other path that they would not be taking.   
  
Then {KZMM!!!} they took off for their own ways, going to either downtown or the rest of the expressway, disappearing from each other's sight and senses.   
  
As predicted, the tanks and helicopters each split up to take on both Goku and Arale. However, they had not deviated from their previous formation; each type of vehicle keeping with its brothers and sisters. The helicopters decided upon themselves to continue their vigil over the expressway, preparing to end the boy's life. And the tanks opted to go for the girl, running a trench down the exit and heading into the commercial area of Western Capital, the turrets slowly scouring for her.   
  
Hovering a good distance over the road, the Red Ribbon air patrol of four succeeded in catching up with Goku, perhaps only a few meters horizontally from where he was running. He turned upwards to find his enemy close upon him, their whirling blades going {TKATKATKA!} though the cold, city air. Searchlights burned from their sources aboard the crafts, cutting a gold swath towards the young warrior. Then the gatling guns rose from under the cockpits, aiming for the head.   
  
Goku gripped the Nyoibo, still in hand, and raised it behind him. With a stern eye, he watched the copters' every move. As the barrel began to turn, the staff spun as well.   
  
And when the guns started firing, Goku twirled his weapon into a spinning fan blade, knocking away any of the bullets that entered within its radius. {PIPIPIPIPING!} Nyoibo scattered the shots far and wide, sending them on random courses away from the boy...and back towards the RRs.   
  
Most of the shells missed the helicopters by a fraction, but one managed to find its way into the propeller device, sinking within its vital mechanisms. {Creeee...} The blade tried desperately to turn, but with the bullet clogging up the works, it could only grunt and squeal like a pig ready for slaughter. The copter hopped and inched through the sky, sinking down ever so father to the highway below. Soon, it could take no more, and {DABOMB!!!} detonated among the asphalt, its blades cutting a sparkling gash against the road that trailed long after it had met its end.   
  
Goku wasn't through yet, though. He tossed the pole behind him, catching it with his other hand and pulling it into a batting position. Running forward the best way possible under the circumstances, he gripped it with both hands, aiming carefully for the rightmost helicopter. He concentrated all his energies into his strike, letting a low growl escape into the air.   
  
"NYOIBO EXTEND!!!" then he swung the staff in an ascending arc, activating the whimsical power within. {GYUUUN!!!} Growing longer and longer, Nyoibo's trajectory came eventually to include the helicopter, who's pilot was watching with a worry that grew as fast as the weapon that approached him. {BWONG!} It hit hard on the side of the craft, spinning it towards another helicopter that hovered nearby. They of course collided, knocking both of them into the last remaining copter, combining all three into a single, indescribable mass that hovered unsteadily in midair before {KABOOM!!!} shattering into a conflagration of gas and scrap that burned into atoms among the vagrant, night sky.   
  
Meanwhile, in the heart of downtown, another onslaught of mayhem was abound, causing panic in the citizens daring to walk the streets. The RR tanks gave no quarter to the defenseless city, running over all obstacles in their way. {CRUNCH!!!} An abandoned Capsule car was crumbled under the treads of the lead tank. {GRIINN!} The support of a traffic light bend and broke against a roving turret. There was no salvation from the destruction the tanks implemented against the hapless town. Of course, there was the purple-haired girl that was dashing in front of them, but she was really doing nothing more than causing more wreckage.   
  
"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!" Arale burned through the oncoming traffic, moving in a zig-zag that knocked trashcans, telephone poles, and fire hydrants awry. It was clear she didn't really care enough to preserve property, though she did make an effort to jump the few cars that managed to get in her way. Her haphazard actions weren't without reason, for the tanks were finally within range to fire their cannons.   
  
{BBOOM!} A blast erupted next to a novelty store, barely avoided by the girl. {BBOOM!} Another shell smashed just behind her into the sidewalk. {BBOOM!}{BBOOM!}{BBOOM!} Arale was forced into a series of jumps over cars; fortunately already abandoned, for each one intertwined in an uncomfortable relationship with an explosive round. {BBOOM!}{BBOOM!}{BBOOM!} A trail of orange fireballs followed her heels, trying its best to engulf the heroine and swallow her up. {BBOOM!}{BBOOM!}{BBOOM!}   
  
Arale turned her head, trying to see through both the flames and the fog mounting on her glasses. Then, she let out a very odd sort of glare. "Mean ol' bad guys!"   
  
{SKIIID!!!} The girl did a 180 on the concrete, sliding and spinning around until she was face to face with her attackers. She was in a parking lot now, a rather nice one with many of the top designers vehicles stocked. Which was kinda bad, 'cause Arale was now lifting the most expensive coupe up over her head. She strained lttle, even with the hefty weight in only two palms, and glared out at the tanks entering the lot. Then "Hoi!" she tossed it directly at the leader, using the car as an impromptu projectile.   
  
{FWOOM!} the coupe impacted against the tank, a massive blaze masking all of the destruction. Quickly opting to follow it up, Arale moved over to a pricey hover-Lamborghini and flung the car into another tank. {KABOOM!} Then a Chevy. {BOMB!} Then an Acura. {DDOOM!!}   
  
"Take that!" she shrieked as she hurled a mid sized truck. "And that!" she continued, sending a sports car on its way. "And this too!" {BABOMB!}{BABOMB!}   
{BABOMB!} Vans, jeeps, and other vehicles were tossed one by one into the tanks, which were not starting to dwindle in number. The few that could move were inching away from the energetic girl, hoping not to get caught in the fire. And the others...well, they couldn't even be seen, so covered in flame and car-parts that it was just too hard to describe. They're toast, anyway.   
  
Arale took a brief moment to catch her breath, then turned to heading once again downtown, leaving behind a tattered combination of rubble, cars, and stray tank parts. With maybe a bent turret hanging out, every now and again...   
  
A minute or so passed, and she was back on the road, having found her way out of the main city. It was another highway, much like the one Goku was currently traveling. In fact...wait, there he was. On a suspended bridge overlooking the expressway, Goku was running, still a good distance away but definitely recognizable. He had apparently gotten rid of those flying guys a while back, and not traveled unhindered towards the edge of the Western Capital. Which was approaching real fast.   
  
Arale was in a fairly good mood, as demonstrated by the smile on her face. She got this entire way without being blown up once! She looked up at Goku, and called to him. "Hey, hey!" she cheered, waving enthusiastically. "We're doin' it! We're doin' it!"   
  
She continued to holler up to the boy, and eventually he looked down. He smiled, catching her eye, and gave her a thumbs up. But soon, his hand flipped to a thumbs-down, and his eyes shrunk with a sudden panic. When Goku saw something Arale didn't.   
  
While the girl's attention was on Goku, a stray motorcycle that had escaped being scrapped was slowly gaining on her. Unbeknownst to Arale, the RR was pulling a heavy bazooka from the sling on his back, bringing it up to bear towards the road she traveled. He focused the sight, adjusting himself on his bike, and when he was sure of his aim, {V-WHOOSH!!!} a large rocket emerged from the barrel, streaking towards the speeding girl.   
  
She turned just in time to notice the missile approaching. "Hoyo...?"   
  
Then {D-BOM!} a entire piece of the road was blown to bits by a tremendous detonation, sending Arale spinning off to the buildings far below. "Oh!"   
  
"Arale-chan!" Goku called off from the high road, staring in despair at his falling friend.   
  
"HOH-YOO!!!"   
  
*****   
  
Goku: "Part 3 will be comin' soon."   
  
Arale: "Don't go bye-cha!" 


	11. Tale 5, Part 3

BR  
Jan-ken PUNCH! BR  
BR  
By Reid M. Haynes BR  
BR  
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump and all characters within are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them. BR  
  
Legend:   
( ) Denotes thoughts.   
{ } Denotes sound effects.   
  
Tale 5: Go, Go, Goku! Arale-chan Too! Part 3   
  
*****   
  
Wind and smog slicing through his hair, Goku tore down through the urban canyons after Arale, both of them free-falling to the dingy slums below. Keeping an aerodynamic shape, he did his best to catch up to his fallen partner, who flailed her arms wildly in a attempt to somehow fly back up to the highway. The rushing air stung his eyes, and the sickly chemical haze made a few tears scorch out of his eyes to wash away behind him. Yet there was no way he could close them, not when there was a rescue to be attempted.   
  
Goku had dove for Arale almost immediately after the rocket had detonated, his form cutting through the even-now dissipating smoke. His hands still held Nyoibo, in case it might be of use in helping the girl. For a moment, he thought about using it to deal revenge blow for the biker that held the bazooka, but decided not to waste time on that. Probably a good thing too, for the biker had been disposed of on his own accord, to busy laughing at his target to pay attention to where he was riding.   
  
He continued to bullet downwards, the skyscrapers and buildings making a rushing noise that clogged his ears. Goku was slowly "gaining ground" on the other, having achieved a higher velocity due to his diving shape. Still, they were getting closer and closer to the streets below, and he wasn't nearly fast enough to really catch up to an arm's length.   
  
He wasn't going to make it.   
  
Goku waited a moment more, hoping he could somehow catch up before Arale hit the pavement, then sighed in disappointment. There was no other choice than to reveal his trump card, the one he saved just in case of occasions like this. Of course, if he used it now, he would forgo the training mission the Old Timer had sent him on. But, by the looks of the situation, he didn't have any other method foolproof enough to be relied on.   
  
Goku's resolve wavered for a moment more, as if hoping for some other way. Then, with a heavy heart, he took a deep breath of the cutting wind, and called for his cloud as loud as he could.   
  
"KINTO'UUUNNNNN!!!"   
  
*****   
  
"Hoyoyo, this doesn't look like much fun..."   
  
These were the words coming out of Arale's mouth as she fell to her imminent death on the cold concrete of the Western Capital, probably to burst into a thousand gears and bolts. Her hair and clothes whipped in the opposite direction of her descent, a few stands agitated her wide, confused eyes. Somehow, the winged "ARALE" cap managed to stay on her head, thanks to the hand holding it down. Though why someone would be so concerned about an article of clothing when propelling to certain doom is beyond me, let me tell you.   
  
The streets below were getting closer and closer, and Arale was actually starting to get a bit worried. What would she say to Midori, Turbo, and the Gatchans if her bones were crushed into the concrete? She was sure the doc would get mad when he'd discover the crater that her landing would cause. That is, if he didn't get kidnapped...   
  
By now, Arale was that much closer to hitting ground zero, having only five stories left before she would reach the bottom of the buildings. She pondered what to do for a moment, and decided that the best thing she could do was to cover her head, and hope that her head wouldn't get knocked off.   
  
Arale squinted her eyelids, and prepared for impact.   
  
{HYUUNNN!!!} ...then, all of a sudden, the girl was swept from her fall by a light, intangible form, moving in a rising streak towards the sky. She suddenly felt a soft, puffy substance below her rear, like a cotton candy ream torn off it's cone. Arale looked up from the strange object to find Son Goku sitting across from her, with knees tucked in and a somewhat forlorn expression on his face. And below him, below both of them, was the green/yellow cumulus that the boy had first sailed into Penguin Village on.   
  
"Yay!" she cheered, throwing her hands down on Kinto'un. "It's the cloudy cloud!"   
  
"Yay," Goku moaned, a touch of sarcasm behind his voice. "It's the 'good bye to my training' cloud."   
  
By now, Goku and Arale were far above their pursuers, who were dwindling rapidly in number. Since the copters had all been swatted away by the Nyoibo, the only opponents left were a few stray bikers, who were empty-handed at coming up with a method to attack their high-flying foes. Kinto'un, cruising at only a low speed, easily matched their cycles' pace and stayed ahead a good quarter of a kilometer. Furthermore, at the altitude it was, it was relatively impossible for any of the RRs' weaponry to reach, having not been designed for anti-aircraft tasks.   
  
Goku stared ahead at the mountains beyond the city, and then turned back to Arale, who was happily snuggling into the soft folds of the Kinto cloud. "We'd better get out of here," he recommended, a serious expression on his face. "Those guys 're prob'ly gonna come back after a while, and I don't feel like fighting them...right now." He tacked the last bit onto his sentence, knowing how much he liked fighting normally.   
  
Arale gave a cheery nod, and the boy looked back towards the horizon. He clutched onto the cloud, bracing his body...   
  
Then {D-KOOOON!!!} the two tore off in a saffron streak towards the fields just outside of the town. Leaving the astonished Red Ribbon soldiers, the buildings and lampposts, and the bright lights and glitz of the Western Capital far, far behind...   
  
*****   
  
The few beams of the early morning sunrise shot through the void with crystal clarity, a few drops of dew illuminating through the breeze. Blades of grass rustled off a ways, and dandelion tuffs soared about on a whistling wind. Off in the distance, a chain of maroon mountains stood just above the green hills that led up to him. And, just above the horizon, the waking sun beat a constant stream of light on our hero, heroine, and whiny tagalong, all in various states of distress.   
  
"I can't believe it," Bulma cried, leaning against the frame of her mo-ped. "Me, the daughter of the Western Capital, ran out like a crook!" She then turned a forceful glare towards the others around her. "Or a certain monkey boy and his friend," the girl growled, clenching her fists in anger.   
  
"Aw, cool off Bulma," Goku snapped back, his legs dangling over the edge of his Kintoun. "I'm the one who got the sour end of this deal, anyway." He gripped Nyoibo in raging anger, practically snapping the staff in two. "It's all 'cause of those Red Ribbon guys that I had t' ditch my trainin' mission. I'll get 'em! I'll get 'em good!"   
  
"Hoyo?" Arale asked, walking up from where she was sitting to the boy's side. "But how're gonna 'get 'em' when they have those flashy boom-booms on their side?"   
  
"Heh, you don't worry about that!" he responded, pointing to himself in overblown bravado for one his side. "No one stops Son Goku!" He then hopped down from his cloud and turned to the girl. "I'm goin' after them. What are you going to do, Arale-chan?"   
  
"Don't know," Arale answered honesty, shagging nonchalantly. "Prob'bly chase after th' doc. With my glasses, I'll be able t' find him a bit easier." She put a hand to her chin, a thought coming to her head. "I wonder where he could be?" she mussed, looking off into the distance.   
  
"Feh." A foreshadowing grin melted onto Goku face, his bangs shadowing his eyes with eerie after tones. "There's only one group of men that could do such a dishonorable deed."   
  
"Huh?" Both Arale and Bulma turned to face him, their faces expectant and eager. "Who are they?"   
  
With a small "heh," Goku tiled his head, eyeing them with his jet black eyes. Then, he span around and gave his statement: "Bad guys!"   
  
"Yeah!" Arale joined in, as Bulma facefaulted. "Bad guys!"   
  
"No offence, Goku," the older teenager started, once she dragged herself off the ground. "But don't you think that the Red Ribbon might be behind Dr. Norimaki's abduction?"   
  
"Oh yeah, them too," the boy nodded, accepting this info with enough casualness to engrain another sweatdrop on Bulma's temple.   
  
Goku walked over to Arale. "'Guess we're fightin' the same baddies,' he said. "What say I tag along with you and help ya save this doc guy? I mean, my training mission's shot anyway, and I'll be able to teach you some Jan-ken stuff along the way." He extended his head. "That cool with you?"   
  
Arale stared at the proffered hand for a moment, as if waiting for all the information to process fully within her brain. Then, with a bright smile, she clasped the hand within her own, gripping his enthusiastically. "Okie dokey, Goku-kun!"   
  
They shook on it.   
  
"Ahem," Both Goku and Arale turned back around, to find an antsy Bulma tapping her foot. "Aren't you forgetting about someone?" She walked up to them with a feminine gait, probably a little put-on. "Remember, I've been run out of my home by the Red Ribbon, so I've got a stake in this too. I think I'll tag with you guys until this whole mess is settled."   
  
"Drat," Goku murmured, disappointed that he had to drag her around now. He kept his comment to himself, though; Bulma was the type that couldn't take no for an answer. Oh well.   
  
As the trio prepared to go, each of them looked toward the rising sun with a different feeling in their heart. Goku was determined and raring for a good challenge. Arale was happy to go on a new adventure and learn new things, though she was also a bit worried about her kidnapped creator and how he was doing. As for Bulma...well, she was worried how the stress she had undergone might contribute to premature wrinkles and other unsightly blemishes to a beauty such as herself. Such was the case, I suppose...   
  
The sun inched up the mountains, peeking furtively at our intrepid explorers.   
  
Then, Goku and Arale took off towards the fields, with Bulma trailing close behind.   
  
"Let's go," the two kids cheered, rushing towards the brand new adventure ahead. "Let's give 'em a Jan-ken PUNCH!!!"   
  
{POW!!!}   
  
*****   
  
Additional Disclaimer(s): Both "Jiffy" and "Smuckers" are products used to make PB&J sandwiched. Though, unless the CEO of Jiffy or Smuckers reads Dragon Ball fanfics, I doubt much is gonna happen... ^_^}   
  
Author's Note: Whew, that took some work! And to think, I'm not even halfway done yet!   
  
I'm going to leave this project on the backburner for awhile. As it stands, this story is only 1/4 of the way done, and I have a long way to go. I have a couple of other projects that I'm wanting to try, and I'm no good at balancing two ideas at once. And since I'm finally at a good stopping point, I believe it's best to halt here, while I still have the option.   
  
Thanks to all who gave me their reviews. It was great to hear such praise for such an obscure idea. See you later.   
  
Oh yeah, here's the "Next Episode" preview. ^_^   
  
Arale: "N'cha! In the next chapter, me, Goku, and the cranky lady head out to the wide world lookin' for Doc! Cool!"   
  
Goku: "Yeah, but the Red Ribbon is still on our tails...hey, who are these guys? Don't I know them from somewhere?"   
  
Goku/Arale: (with arms around each other) "All this and more, in the next exciting chapter of 'Jan-ken PUNCH!'"   
  
RisanF: "Until next time, ja ne! ^_^" 


End file.
